


the one that i need (could be right here by my side)

by kagome_angel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: At Least Kags Didn't Burn the Kitchen Down, Best Friends Falling in Love, Bottom!Tobio, Boyfriends Being Cute, Boys Will Be Boys, Cute, Cute Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Dates, Dirty Talk, Dorks in Love, Everything's Going to Change, Falling In Love, Finally finished, Fireworks, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Penetrative Sex, Fluff and Smut, Friendship on Fire, Frottage, Future talk, Happy Ending, Head-Over-Heels Hinata Too, Head-Over-Heels Kags, High School, Hinata Calls Kageyama Cute Nicknames Sometimes Because After Seeing it in the Anime How Could I Not, Hinata is Happy, Hinata is a Dirty Talker, Holding Hands, I Can't Write Volleyball to Save My Life Send Help, I'm Going to Miss Writing This, I'm Sorry, Kageyama Tobio is a Dork, Kageyama Tobio's Birthday, Kageyama is Happy, Kags is a Sap Really, Kags the Overthinker, Late Night Conversations, Lending Jackets, M/M, Making Out, Natsu is Cute, Natsu is Totally Gearing up for Tobio to be Her Future Brother-in-Law, Needy Shouyou, Needy Tobio, Nervous Kageyama, Not so secret, Penetrative Sex, Phone Calls & Telephones, Phone Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, SWEET BOYS, Sappy Sex, School Life, Secret Makeout Sessions, Secret Relationship, Sexual Experimentation, Sexual Tension, Shooting Stars, Sleepovers, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Smut, Sneaking Out, Summer break, Texting, There is Some Volleyball in Here Too, These Boys are Perfect, They Love Each Other More Than They Love Volleyball, They are so Incredibly in Love, They love each other so much, Tobi's Mom is Something Else Y'all I Can't, Tobio Feels Like a Bad Boyfriend, Tobio is Kind of Mortified, Tobio's Parents are Cute, Trick or Treating, Tsukishima is Smart, Tsukishima's Got it All Figured Out, Valentine's Day, awkward teenagers, discovering feelings, emotional boys, happy birthday hinata, happy new year, kageyama is smitten, precious boys, telling the parents, the team finds out, these two kill me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-18 22:11:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagome_angel/pseuds/kagome_angel
Summary: The seasons change, and so do they.Or:  This is how they fall in love, and stay there.





	1. Spring (April)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Walk the Moon's "Sidekick". This is something I have been working on for _months_ and was going to do it as one huge post, but then I changed my mind and decided to do it in installments/chapters. It's rated explicit because it _will_ be. This fic is actually almost complete (I have about a chapter and a half left to actually write), and I decided... what the hey.
> 
> Second-year Kageyama Tobio begins to realize that he feels quite a lot more for Hinata Shouyou than he ever bargained for. Sometimes love can surprise the hell out of you. 
> 
> This story starts in Spring, at the beginning of their second year, and will end in Spring, too. It's a slow burn for a bit, so please be patient with me (and these lovely boys).
> 
> I'm not the best at this, and up until a few months ago, I had been horribly out of practice, as it were, with my writing. I'm still a little shaky. I'm still finding _my words_ again, in ways. I have, however, been loving writing this so far. For me, it's incredibly fun to dip into Tobio's head. What lies ahead is a bunch of teasing, silly nicknames (mostly from Hinata), cuteness, night-time phone calls, and eventually, a good deal of sexy fun times. Again, patience is key. ;)
> 
> Tags will be updated as chapters are added.

Kageyama isn’t perfect, even though he sometimes wishes he could be. He’s gotten plenty wrong along the way—

\--and he is beginning to believe one of those ‘wrong’ things is having Hinata Shouyou as his best friend—

\--except only not really; this is probably (definitely) one of the things he’s managed to get right, even though right at this exact moment he’s questioning it just a little, perhaps.

“If you don’t go to _sleep_ , dumbass,” he growls into the phone, leaning back against the wall and internally heaving a tired sigh, “you won’t be able to do _shit_ tomorrow because you’ll be so sleepy! I’ll hit a serve into the back of your head to wake you up, If I need to, even though that’s _your_ move.”

Hinata makes a noise somewhere between a snort and a _humpf_ , and the sound settles somewhere between Kageyama’s chest and belly. “So rude, Kageyama! I was just _saying_ , I’m excited for tomorrow! But also nervous, because you know, we don’t have Daichi or Suga or Asahi moving forward. And it’s going to be different, and I know we’ll still go _gwaaaahhh_ and _zoom_ and--”

“ _Hinata_ ” Kageyama interjects, trying to sound more annoyed than amused (he’s pretty equally both), “it’s going to be all right one way or another. Ennoshita knows what he’s doing, and we’ve got to trust him. Besides, we’ll have some new first years, and they’ll bring something different to the table, probably, and--”

“And you’ll toss to me, right?” Shouyou sounds like a volcano about to erupt, in a sense. It’s like all of his energy is currently just _barely_ being contained, some of it leaking out into his voice, his words. Kageyama can imagine his smile right now, and can’t help but smile a little, himself.

“Of course I will, idiot.” It’s not like Hinata needs the verbal affirmation, and Kageyama really shouldn’t feel the need to indulge him, but, well… “Now go to sleep.”

Hinata’s sigh is overly-dramatic and long-suffering. “Fine, fine, Whiny-yama. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Tobio answers softly. There’s silence then, and it’s funny how the quiet can seem too loud after having a conversation with Hinata. It doesn’t make sense, but then again, neither do most things these days when it comes to Hinata. 

He has the ability to turn logic on its head, to turn everything upside-down and force you to look at the world from a different perspective. 

He’s always been exceedingly good at that, and maybe Kageyama’s finally learning how to _see_.

~*~

April officially begins something like this:

They meet at the front entrance the following morning, Hinata with his bike and his messy hair and his smile that makes Kageyama feel at ease and yet also turns him into this ridiculously jittery, jumbled mess of a person. 

“Hey,” Shouyou greets, effervescent and bouncy as he locks his bike up. He shouldn’t be this energetic and _happy_ this early in the morning. _No one_ should. 

Kageyama’s reply is a mumbled, “Mmhm,” or something along those lines, and it doesn’t seem to satisfy Hinata in the slightest. 

“Oh come _on_ , Tiredy-yama,” Hinata grouses, throwing his hands up in the air before shoving Tobio just a little. “At least _pretend_ to be a little excited.”

Out of habit more than anything else (okay, maybe it also has something to do with not letting Hinata get the better of him), Kageyama shoves him back, though perhaps not quite as roughly as he typically would. “I _am_ excited, stupid, but we have to get through classes first, and how in the hell are you so damn peppy after biking over the mountain like that?”

Hinata shrugs, like it’s perfectly normal to have his stupid amount of energy. “We’re gonna be great,” he says, as if he’s already convinced himself. “You know? I know it. And we’ll show the first years what we can do, just in case they think they can show _us_ a thing or two. Because nobody can do what we can.” He puffs his chest out, looking incredibly ridiculous and maybe just a little… something else.

“You’re sounding a little like Tanaka,” Tobio tells him and rolls his eyes, because that’s much safer than actually acknowledging that Hinata’s just paid him a roundabout compliment. “Please don’t expect anyone to start calling you _senpai_.”

“I’m _not_ ,” Hinata insists. “Geeze, aren’t you looking forward to showing off our quick? At least just a little bit?”

One corner of Tobio’s lips curves into a small smile. “Maybe a little.”

“And maybe you’re just a liiiiittttllleee happy to see me?” Hinata asks in a sing-song voice. It blindsides Kageyama, leaves him standing there, dumbfounded and speechless for a second.

It is _too_ early in the morning for this.

He recovers quickly (or, at least, he would like to think that he does). “Dumbass. Don’t act like we weren’t just doing this a few days ago.”

Hinata’s grin is proof that Tobio’s words haven’t deflated him in the slightest, and that’s not so surprising, really. “Yeah, but it’s _different_ now, you know?”

They part ways and head to their separate classes; they meet up for lunch and of course, Hinata wants to practice a little (and of course, Kageyama can’t tell him no).

Towards the end of the day, Kageyama finds himself growing just a tad antsy, and wonders if that’s somehow Hinata’s fault (he decides to blame him anyway, regardless, just because), and once it’s time for practice—

\--It _is_ different, without Suga, without Asahi, without Daichi, without Kiyoko. Things feel strangely… off. 

Their new first years are divided, a couple of rambunctious loudmouths followed by a couple that are quiet as mice, meek but promising (they remind Kageyama a little of Asahi, minus all the power, and the troublemakers make him think of Nishinoya).

Ukai takes his place as their coach once more and Takeda stands beside him, remaining as their advisor. Yachi, for the first time, takes her place as manager, looking just this side of terrified. 

Tanaka and Noya take a shot at intimidating the first years, just a little, and Ennoshita scolds them, just as Daichi would have done. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi snicker behind their hands.

And then, they get started. Everything starts off slow and uncertain, like they’re all little fawns trying to learn to walk, stumbling and falling along the way. It’s to be expected, this disjointed new-ness. They figured it out last year, and they’ll manage this year, too. 

(They will make _them_ proud.)

His first ‘official’ practice toss as a second-year setter goes to Shouyou, of course. No thought, no hesitation, just pure instinct and motion, and Shouyou is right there, waiting for him. He’s just as fast as he ever was, perhaps even more so, now. He spikes Kageyama’s toss with ease, his hand connecting with the ball and sending it flying over the net, leaving the first years to stare at him in awe and disbelief.

But Hinata’s looking at Kageyama and he’s _smiling_ , proud as he can be.

And for all the things that have changed and _are_ changing—this right here (this feeling, this bond) has remained a constant, and Kageyama is grateful for it.

~*~

The weeks pass by quickly; their team is beginning to pull itself together. They spend one of their Friday nights out with the former third years, and it’s good to see them, good to know that they’re well. Kageyama can tell when Sugawara smiles at him that he’s feeling nostalgic, and Kageyama does too, maybe just a little. Hinata still smiles at them like they’re part of the team. In a sense, they always will be.

April ends with a sleepy Hinata’s voice on the other line, telling Kageyama that they should do this more often, and Kageyama rolls his eyes even though he knows Hinata can’t see it. 

“Why are you telling me this now instead of an hour ago when you were standing beside me?” Kageyama asks even though he knows it’s pointless because Hinata’s sense of logic (which is at times imperceptible and near-damn nonexistent) doesn’t quite work that way.

“Dunno,” Hinata replies, and Kageyama can practically _hear_ his nonchalant shrug, followed by a barely-stifled yawn, which he hears perfectly well. “You’re not asleep yet anyway, obviously.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Kageyama says pointedly, and Hinata is silent, clearly not accepting any blame whatsoever. “You know, I probably would have been except my phone rang, and this idiot that I know started running his mouth about something that he had the perfect opportunity to talk about when--”

“You’re grumpy, you know?” Hinata sounds like he wants to laugh. Kageyama kind of wants to punch him. “Sorry for keeping you awake. Get some rest, Grumpy-yama.” He doesn’t sound the slightest bit apologetic, but the ‘get some rest’ is genuine, and it gives Kageyama pause.

“This isn’t going to become a regular thing, is it?” Tobio doesn’t know why he feels the need to ask. He blames it on sleepiness. 

“What?”

“These late-night phone conversations,” Kageyama clarifies. “We see each other practically every day, why would you wanna hear _more_ of my voice? Do I not yell at you enough on the court? Do I need to step it up?”

Shouyou snickers, and it makes Tobio feel that weird sensation again, that one somewhere between his heart and his stomach, or maybe it’s in both places at once. “I could do without all the yelling, but I know you’re working on it. Honestly, it’s nice to talk to you like this, too.” Another yawn, one that Shouyou doesn’t bother to try to cover up this time. “Anyway… goodnight!”

Kageyama’s too busy mulling over Hinata’s words for a moment, and his answering ‘goodnight’ is a bit belated. He’s still holding the phone after there’s nothing but silence on the other end, feeling some strange way that he can’t define. 

Truthfully, he wouldn’t mind if it _did_ become a regular thing. 

Not that he’ll tell Hinata that of course.


	2. Spring (May)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kageyama lends Hinata his jacket, and begins to realize that nothing and everything has changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little gestures and huge revelations.

The beginning of May brings with it a lot of rain, which is unusual to say the least, but it isn’t much of an issue because they practice in the gym. All of the rain brings with it a ton of humidity, though, and it isn’t exactly comfortable but it’s tolerable. 

Hinata shows up for class one morning soaking wet. Kageyama stands at the entrance of the school and looks at him like he’s grown an appendage out of his head. Hinata seems pretty unaffected; he parks his bike and bounds up the steps with a smile as big as ever, a smile that seems out of place on such a dreary day.

Kageyama frowns. “You’re gonna get sick,” he says. And then, “You look like a drowned rat,” followed abruptly by, “Where the hell is your jacket or something anyway?”

Hinata takes the semi-lecture in stride, already beginning to head for the hallway, dripping water everywhere. “It didn’t start raining until I’d made it halfway here. I didn’t have time to turn around. I’ll be fine, Worried-yama.”

“Yeah well, if you get sick you know you can’t play, and then what the hell am I supposed to do? You know the first years are still in awe over the fact that we can do a quick like that.”

Hinata looks back at him over his shoulder, offering him a rather smug grin. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t be able to show off as well if I weren’t there to spike your tosses?”

_Well, shit._

Kageyama stands there in the middle of the hallway, realizing too late that he’s kinda just put his foot in his mouth, and Hinata’s probably going to have a ball with it.

He doesn’t, though. He simply repeats, “I’ll be fine,” gives a little wave, and heads off to class while Tobio just stands there, wondering what the chances are of Shouyou getting hypothermia at this point, despite the warm temperatures. 

After practice that evening, Kageyama wordlessly hands Hinata his own jacket, and, after Hinata just stares at him dumbfoundedly, he blurts, “Take it. You don’t need to get drenched _twice_ in one day. At least you’ll have this on the way back home, if it starts to rain.”

Hinata takes the offered bit of protection, although he seems to do so somewhat reluctantly. “What about you? Then you won’t have anything.”

“I’ll be fine. I don’t have as far to walk as you have to ride.”

“All right,” Hinata agrees as he slips on Kageyama’s jacket, which is entirely too big for him. He has to shove the sleeves up to keep them from covering his hands. “I’m walking with you until you make it home, though.”

Kageyama raises an eyebrow. “Like that’s any different from any other night?”

“Shut up.”

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Tanaka, and Yachi watch on in what might be either stunned or amused silence.

Tsukishima’s eventual bark of laughter indicates that it’s the latter, and Kageyama _really_ wants to punch him but doesn’t want to waste the energy. Besides, they kind of need Tsukishima; he’s the best blocker they’ve got.

It doesn’t rain on them as they walk together. Hinata chatters animatedly about practice, nearly causing his bike to fall over a couple of times. Kageyama doesn’t give much input, but he listens. And when they part ways, he stands just inside the doorway and watches as Hinata’s form retreats, his body practically engulfed by Kageyama’s jacket.

Now that he’s stopped to think about it, it’s almost funny (and incredibly alarming) how nothing’s different and yet it feels as if everything is beginning to change.

(And that’s enough of a revelation for the rest of this month, Tobio decides as he shuts the door behind himself.)

~*~

The rain eventually lets up towards the middle and the end of the month. It begins to really feel like summer, even though it’s still really spring (not for long, though; June will be here and gone in the blink of an eye).

“I never gave your jacket back.” It’s a short statement tacked onto the end of a longer one that had been about Hinata’s pride in the team (and yeah, Kageyama’s proud, too), an add-on, an after-thought. However, Hinata sounds perhaps the tiniest bit sheepish. 

“Keep it,” Kageyama replies, laying back against his pillows and closing his eyes.

“Huh? But won’t you need it?”

“Dummy, you’ve seen me wear another one.” He doesn’t know why he wants Hinata to keep his jacket; he _likes_ that jacket, but he thinks of it, draped over Hinata’s too-small shoulders, and something about it feels strangely right. Besides, it would seem that Hinata’s gotten more wear out of it lately than Kageyama ever has, so….

“Yeah, but--” Shouyou seems to still want to protest for a moment, but then perhaps thinks better of it, or maybe just gives up. “Okay.” He’s smiling. Kageyama can’t see it, but he can hear it, feel it.

“Goodnight, Hinata.”

“Goodnight, Kageyama. And I’ll totally beat you to the gym tomorrow.” 

Kageyama scoffs. “Keep dreaming.”

He’s stopped keeping score somewhere along the way, and has started paying more attention to the moments when Hinata is simply _there_ beside him, no matter what they’re doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually finished writing the last chapter today. I am so excited to clean it up, and continue updating. Have I mentioned that this is a slow burn? I'm hoping you guys will stick with me, and that I can make it worth it. :D


	3. Spring to Summer (June)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“What are you wishing for, Kageyama?” Hinata eventually asks, so softly that Tobio almost doesn’t hear it.  
>  He glances at Hinata, who’s still staring up at the sky. “Like I’m gonna tell you.”_
> 
> _“I knew you’d say that.” He doesn’t seem disappointed, though. He’s smiling._
> 
> _(Kageyama wishes for their team to continue to have a good year. He wishes that he’ll grow more and more as a setter, that he’ll be able to bring out the best in his teammates. But most of all, he wishes for more soft moments like this with Hinata, and that scares him; it scares him to want more of something like **this**.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Hinata!
> 
> (Kageyama is so far gone, you guys, he doesn't even realize it.)
> 
> Also, Tsukki's got you figured out, son.

The beginning and middle of June means a lot of exams, and subsequently, a lot of studying. Tobio refuses to wind up in the same predicament he was in last year, and refuses to allow Hinata to be in that boat again, either. So, they study extra hard, and they annoy the hell out of Tsukishima, but he proves to be more patient with them this year than he had been last year. Hurrah for team dynamics, teamwork, and all that jazz.

Sometimes, Tsukishima looks at Kageyama like he _knows_ something—like he’s worked something out in his mind that Kageyama hasn’t quite figured out yet. Not that it comes as a surprise. Tsukishima’s pretty smart, even though Kageyama would never admit it out loud (although he supposes that by asking him to help them study, he kind of already has, _damnit_ ); Tsukishima is very analytical and observant; things that would usually go unnoticed by others are the things that he tends to focus on. So it comes as no surprise that he looks at Kageyama like this, sometimes. Like he’s waiting for Kageyama to reach some conclusion that he’s already arrived at.

It’s annoying, but Kageyama doesn’t comment on it because Tsukishima’s helping them, and he’s at least smart enough to know that you probably shouldn’t piss off the person who’s agreed to help you.

“If you fail one of your exams,” he says to Hinata during one particularly intense and grueling study session, “I hope you know that I’m not going to toss to you anymore.” It’s an empty threat, but Tobio thinks of it as motivation. Hinata, brain probably currently too-full of all the pre-exam information that he can cram into it, stares at Tobio blankly for half a second before looking utterly crestfallen.

“You don’t mean that,” Hinata manages a moment later. He crumples up a piece of paper and chunks it straight at Kageyama’s face. It doesn’t miss, and it turns their study group into a bunch of laughing buffoons. 

Without missing a beat, Kageyama throws the ball of paper right back (it misses, narrowly, whizzing right by Shouyou’s head and hitting Tanaka instead). “Motivation,” he says, as if that explains everything.

“It isn’t motivation if he knows it won’t happen, Kageyama, sheesh.” 

It’s time to take a break when Nishinoya starts (unnecessarily) pointing out the obvious.

Tsukishima rests his forehead against his open palm, looking as though he’s currently questioning himself as to why he agreed to this in the first place. “We’re way ahead of you both, you know. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, but when it isn’t frustrating, it’s pretty amusing to watch you two idiots blunder around.”

Kageyama gives Hinata a sidelong glance. Hinata shrugs, and goes right back to the current mathematics problem he’s working on.   
Tobio tries not to think too much about Tsukishima’s words. 

Sometimes, people allow themselves to remain blind simply because some part of them isn’t yet quite ready to _see_.

(He’s getting there… maybe.)

~*~

“So there’s supposed to be a meteor shower at one o’clock this morning,” Hinata says excitedly into the phone, and Tobio just kind of stares at it for a moment, wondering what he’s supposed to do with this bit of seemingly-pointless information.

“And?” he asks and he waits.

Shouyou makes a noise that might be one of slight annoyance, as if he can’t believe Kageyama hasn’t read his mind or something, as if it’s an inconvenience for him to have to explain. “So they’re super rare in June, and I want to see it, and it’ll be my birthday!”

“You’re gonna go outside at one in the morning to watch some shooting stars?” Kageyama asks, and waits again, because he has a feeling….

“I wanna see,” Hinata says again, like it’ll somehow mean something different or _more_ the second time around. “And I want _you_ to see, too!”  
Kageyama flops onto his bed unceremoniously. “Me?”

Another one of those sounds that might be annoyance (the noise makes Kageyama smirk, just a little). “Yes, you, Dummy-yama. I don’t want to go by myself. And it’ll be _my_ birthday, so I’ll say this is my birthday wish, then, for you to watch the meteor shower with me.”

The fact that Hinata wants to do something like this with him makes his insides go all topsy-turvy. He doesn’t have to think about his response, not really. “Okay.”

Shouyou meets him outside of his house at a little after midnight. Tobio was exceptionally quiet exiting and shutting the door, and even now, he places a finger to his lips, shushing Shouyou before he can even get a single word out, because for some reason, Tobio feels the need to be overly-cautious.

“My parents would have a heart-attack,” he says like it’s an off-hand explanation (and they probably would, though not for the reasons Hinata might think). 

Hinata rolls his eyes, and says in a stage-whisper as he leans his bike against the side of the house, “Yes, we’re such delinquents, sneaking out after curfew for a meteor shower.” His gaze then lands on what Kageyama’s currently holding. “What ya got?”

Kageyama pulls a face of some sort, clutching at the paper plate that’s covered with tinfoil, staring down at his feet as he extends it in offering to Hinata. “I was going to bring this to you sometime tomorrow, today, whatever. But since you’re here now.”

A large piece of chocolate cake, with cream cheese frosting. 

Hinata smiles this beautiful, crooked little smile. “Thanks!” He splits it with Tobio as they walk to a clearing that isn’t far from where Kageyama lives—a spot away from artificial light. Out here, it’s just them and the stars and the cake that they’re currently munching on.

“I’m older than you,” Hinata practically crows as they look up at the stars together. He says it like it’s news, when it isn’t.

“If you tell me to call you _senpai_ ,” Tobio begins, but is cut off when Hinata flicks a crumb of cake at him. 

“I _won’t_!” After the outburst, Shouyou falls silent, gaze transfixed above them as the first shooting star makes its way across the sky.

It’s followed by a second, and a third, and Kageyama goes quiet, too, watching this phenomenon (these things that aren’t even stars at all) that he never even knew Hinata _liked_ , much less enjoyed so much that he would choose to lose sleep just to see it happen.

“What are you wishing for, Kageyama?” Hinata eventually asks, so softly that Tobio almost doesn’t hear it.

He glances at Hinata, who’s still staring up at the sky. “Like I’m gonna tell you.”

“I knew you’d say that.” He doesn’t seem disappointed, though. He’s smiling. 

(Kageyama wishes for their team to continue to have a good year. He wishes that he’ll grow more and more as a setter, that he’ll be able to bring out the best in his teammates. But most of all, he wishes for more soft moments like this with Hinata, and that scares him; it scares him to want more of something like _this_.)

Instead of letting his thoughts wander too far in the direction they are going, Tobio reels them back in, murmurs, “I didn’t know you enjoyed stuff like this.”

“You’ve never asked,” Hinata retorts, though not in an upset manner. At least, Kageyama doesn’t think so. “We talk about volleyball and food.” He chuckles. “I like sunsets. And sunrises, being on my bike and watching the sun come up and say hello. I like the stars. And the ocean. And pork buns. And sweets. Staying in the warm bed when it’s cold out. Weekends, and being able to sleep in. Video games. Fireworks. Playing volleyball, of course. With you.”

The addition of ‘with you’ feels like it means something, like it means a hell of a lot. Maybe everything. Kageyama feels his mouth go dry and he wants to say something, ask something, but the words catch in his throat and then Hinata’s leaning over, nudging at him gently.

“Thank you for coming here with me.” The words are incredibly, painfully sincere, and they make something inside of Kageyama lurch and twist and swell.

Instead of brushing off the gratitude with a dismissive ‘yeah’, as is typical of him (at least, with the compliments that Shouyou has given him in the past), Tobio replies with a quiet, “You’re welcome,” as they continue to sit there together, shoulder-to-shoulder, in a companionable silence.

After they determine it’s probably safe to say the meteor shower is over, they wobble sleepily back to Kageyama’s house. Hinata’s rubbing at his eyes as he reaches for his bike.   
“Call me when you get home,” Kageyama instructs. “I’ll be awake.”

“You worry too much,” Hinata tells him. “I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want your dead body on my conscience. Don’t fall off the fucking mountain, and call me when you get home.”

He doesn’t call, but he does send a text message, which reads: _You can go to sleep now. I’m in bed and I’m not dead. ^_^_

Kageyama’s response is a simple, _Happy Birthday, Hinata. Goodnight._

It’s nearly three in the morning and he wants to be grumpy over the fact that he’s not going to get much sleep because he gets up early on the weekends and goes jogging (he may be a zombie jogger in a few hours), but all he feels is _happy_ , and it isn’t even _his_ birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are continuing to enjoy this! Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Summer (July)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a brief silence, and then there’s this: “Are you asking me out on a _date_ , Kageyama?”
> 
> Tobio manages to sputter some incoherent nonsense into the phone. He contemplates ending the call.
> 
> Then Hinata’s laughing. “I’m kidding, I’m _kidding_ , do _not_ hang up on me, all right?!” He clears his throat. “So… you were wanting to go to the festival?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank you all enough for your encouragement and kind words. You guys are fantastic.
> 
> I love these boys ridiculously much. Have I mentioned that?

For members of volleyball clubs all over Japan, ‘summer’ is synonymous with ‘training camp’, and Karasuno is no exception. They’ve been kept in other teams’ good graces, it seems—that, or said other teams just want the chance to kick their asses like they pretty much did last summer.

They run into some familiar faces, and they take note that some familiar faces are no longer there. After all, all of last year’s third years have graduated and moved on. It’s not the same, but it’s still fun. It’s even more fun to watch their opponents do diving receives as opposed to being the ones having to do them (Kageyama doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the multitude of them that they had to do last summer; muscle memory is quick to physically remind him as soon as their team has to do a round of them).

Things are different, though, this time around. Karasuno is a force to be reckoned with, and not only because of Kageyama, or because of their brilliant decoy, or because of their amazing quick. It’s because of all of them, together.

There’s a nervous sort of excitement in Kageyama that only builds after his shower, after he’s meant to be settling down for the night. He’s pretty sure he could rival Hinata right now, with all the energy he has that’s inside of him, although, unlike Hinata, he’s capable of keeping it pretty decently contained. 

For the most part, anyway. He’s fidgety as he crawls under his blankets, eyes wide open when they ought to be closed.

“Hey,” Shouyou whispers, and of _course_ he’s awake, too. It’s not like Tobio expected any different.

“Hm?”

“Are you nervous? Excited? They’re taking us seriously this year. Isn’t it great?” Hinata isn’t quite as good at reigning in his own reckless energy; his too-loud whispers are proof enough of that. He’s like a dog on a chain, begging to be let loose, aching to run wild and free.

Kageyama shushes him, but nods in an affirmative. Then, realizing Hinata more than likely didn’t see it, he simply says, “Yes.” It’s the proper, true answer to all three questions.

“Well, don’t be nervous,” Hinata tells him. “We’re doing great. Plus, as long as I’m here, you’re invincible, remember? And as long as you’re here, so am I. Right?”

Kageyama blinks. Tries for words. Fails. Lays there in the darkness, heart thumping loudly in his chest. It’s something, definitely _something_ , how those words have stayed with both of them.

He doesn’t know who reaches for whom. All Tobio knows is that their hands find each other in the darkness, fingers intertwining, and neither of them pulls away.

~*~

“So I was thinking--”

“Isn’t that dangerous for you to do?” Hinata asks, chuckling, and Kageyama groans and is tempted to drop the phone on his bed and just let Hinata ramble for a few minutes. He’ll come back and get it later.

“ _Hinata_.”

“I mean, don’t try so much. All those volleyballs in your head are just gonna bounce into each other and--”

“Will you _listen_ to me, dumbass?!” He’s ridiculously nervous for some reason, and he’s pretty sure Hinata can hear it in his voice; he’s absolutely sure when Hinata abruptly shuts up and stops teasing and just _listens_. “There’s a festival next weekend. Saturday. And it’s the beginning of summer break, and I figured… if you weren’t doing anything….” Kageyama lets his sentence trail off; Hinata’s smart enough to connect the dots (after all, he didn’t fail any of his exams this year, so far anyway).

There’s a brief silence, and then there’s this: “Are you asking me out on a _date_ , Kageyama?”

Tobio manages to sputter some incoherent nonsense into the phone. He contemplates ending the call.

Then Hinata’s laughing. “I’m kidding, I’m _kidding_ , do _not_ hang up on me, all right?!” He clears his throat. “So… you were wanting to go to the festival?”

Kageyama’s stomach settles just a fraction. Stomach. Heart. Whatever that thing is that feels like it’s about to fly right out of him. Wow. He’s being stupid. “I thought _you_ would like to go,” he clarifies. “There will be fireworks.”

Silence, which makes Kageyama more nervous. Hinata’s voice, when he answers, has the slightest of tremors, right at the edge. “You remembered.”

“Well yeah,” Kageyama says, as if it would be stupid to think that he _wouldn’t_ remember.

“Meet you at your house at seven?” Hinata offers, and Kageyama accepts, because even though he would like to go get Hinata instead of expecting him to bike over here every time, backtracking would then be inevitable, and also quite pointless, so.

It’s a date. Or it isn’t. 

Whatever.

The following Saturday evening, Hinata meets him at seven, as planned, and they make the rest of the journey on foot. Kageyama lives close enough to town for the walk to not be horrible, and yet far enough away to be able to see the starry sky pretty clearly at night (he pays more attention to it, these days. Finds himself going to that little clearing where he and Hinata had watched the meteor shower for Hinata’s birthday).

Festival food is a must; Shouyou insists upon it. So they eat everything that looks good that they can hold and they wander around, playing some of the games and talking about nothing and everything (clarification: Shouyou does most of the talking) until the sun fully sets and it’s time for the fireworks to begin.

Kageyama hasn’t been to a festival like this in years, and hasn’t ever really paid much attention to fireworks displays. They’re pretty, but he can’t remember a time when he’s actually sat down and properly _watched_ them. 

Not that tonight’s all that different. They’re sitting on a bench together, alone, away from the crowds, and Hinata’s watching the fireworks, and Tobio’s mostly just watching   
Hinata, glancing up at the sky every now and again, especially when Hinata’s eyes grow wide with wonder, because Tobio wants to see what he sees, wants to be able to appreciate it in the same manner.

At some point, when he glances again at Hinata, it’s to find that Hinata is looking at him, too. Here they are, looking at one another, the fireworks carrying on, and Kageyama feels hot all over, knows he’s flushed. He thinks he should probably look away. He can’t.

“What’s on your mind?” Hinata asks him, and Kageyama considers flat-out lying; considers not opening up this can of worms, not potentially sending their evening for a nose-dive that he can’t pull back from. But the thing about Hinata is that he _knows_ him; knows when he’s not telling him all of something, and if Kageyama chooses to not say anything now, it will inevitably come back up later. 

Shouyou’s always been the one to push him to say what he needs to say, when it needs to be said. He’s pretty sure that won’t ever change.

Kageyama inhales deeply, gaze still fixed on the boy beside him. “Have you ever… been scared shitless by something?”

Hinata briefly snickers, no doubt at the vulgarity, and then says, “Well, you know how upset my stomach used to get before matches sometimes.”

Tobio just kind of half-glares at him in response. “Not _literally_ , idiot. You don’t see me running to the bathroom. I’m just saying--”

“What’s gotten you so afraid?” Hinata prompts, gentle but insistent. “What’re _you_ scared of, Kageyama?”

_You,_ Tobio thinks but doesn’t say. _This. What I feel for you. Fucking this up entirely and losing you._ “Something I want, a hell of a lot more than I ever thought I would, or could.” He’s tiptoeing around it, not giving Shouyou a direct answer yet. 

“I read somewhere--”

“You _read_?!” Kageyama gasps, all overly-dramatic, “I never knew! I thought there were just a million volleyballs bouncing around in that empty head of yours!” Because turnabout is fair play, and Hinata had basically done this to him over the phone when he’d asked him about coming here, so.

Hinata raises an eyebrow, a look of _really???_ scrawled all over his face, but he’s smirking just slightly. “ _Tobio_. Anyway… I read somewhere that the things you’re most scared of are the things that are really, really worth taking a risk on. Like… when you’re scared before a big match. But you’re amazing, so you do wonderfully, and aren’t you always glad that you decided to go ahead with it even though it’s scary beforehand?”

Kageyama’s brain is a little stuck on the fact that Hinata’s just called him _amazing_ , not for the first time, but he’s _still_ not used to it. “… Yeah.”

“So what do you want? Why are you afraid of what you want?” Direct. It gives him very little wiggle-room, not much opportunity for omission.

He tries anyway, answering one of the two questions: “I’m afraid of messing it up, making it all go wrong.”

“But what if it goes _right_?” Hinata points out. “And even if it _doesn’t_ , wouldn’t taking the risk be worth it just to find out?”

Kageyama bites at his bottom lip, sighing and looking away. “Not if I lose what I want altogether, in every sense.”

“What do you want?” Hinata asks him again, moving closer, the fingers of one hand coming to rest on Kageyama’s forearm. His touch is warm—hot, even, and Kageyama almost jumps at the contact. 

No more wriggle-room, no more chances for lying by omission. He can ask Hinata to drop it, and he knows Hinata will respect it, but it’ll be only a matter of time before they circle back around to _this_ , to Kageyama’s fear of going for what he wants, when what he wants happens to be Karasuno’s ultimate decoy and his very own best friend. 

He doesn’t know if he’s ready for this. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be ready for this. 

But oh, the things you can miss out on, if you wait until you’re ready.

Kageyama swallows past the lump in his throat and answers, “You.”

Hinata’s hand moves from his arm to his face, fingers tracing the curve of his cheek. His eyes are bright and shining, and—oh, he’s moving even closer. 

Kageyama doesn’t know if he tips forward or if Hinata just comes to him; the next thing he’s aware of is Hinata’s lips against his own, moving carefully, gently, and Kageyama shudders, thinks he falls apart a little, thinks, _finally_.

Tobio’s body reacts of its own accord, arms sliding around Shouyou, pulling him as close as he can get, and Shouyou doesn’t seem to mind; his hand moves from Tobio’s face to his hair, his other arm coming to wrap itself around his neck, and when the wet tip of a tongue teases at his lips, Tobio yields to it, making a sound into the kiss as they explore each other’s mouths as if there’s nothing else on earth they’d rather be doing right now (not even volleyball), and for Tobio, there _isn’t_. Everything narrows down to   
Shouyou, to his hands and his mouth and the way they move against him, slow and sweet like molasses, and _oh_ yes, he’s wanted this, but it’s only now that he’s realized just how fucking _much_.

They reluctantly break apart several moments later, and Kageyama can feel himself smiling wider than he’s probably ever smiled in his entire life.

“I take back what I said before about your smile being scary,” Hinata informs him, a little breathlessly. “It’s gorgeous.” 

Hinata is smiling, too, one of his sunshine smiles, and it is way brighter and a thousand times more beautiful than any fireworks display could ever hope to be.

Kageyama kisses him again, because he wants to, and because he’s curious to know what that smile tastes like on his lips.

(It’s like swallowing the sun, and it warms Tobio from the inside out.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _We're finally getting somewhere._
> 
> Is that what you're all thinking? ^_~
> 
> Stay tuned!


	5. Summer (August)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He wishes he could stop time, freeze it right here, just like this, with Hinata’s head pillowed on his chest, his stupid hair tickling his nose as he points at the sky, laughter bubbling from his lips, and all Kageyama feels is **elation**._
> 
>  
> 
> Summer break--a whole month of no school, and essentially having Hinata to himself (for the most part).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the cuteness continues.

This year, summer vacation is different, to say the least. Tobio wakes up early, like he would for school; he thinks maybe it’s a habit, but knows better. There are mornings he wakes up early enough to catch the sunrise (those are the mornings that his mother presses her palm to his forehead to see if he’s running a fever and smiles fondly at him; he dismisses it, tells her it’s nothing, that he just needs to get his run done before it gets too warm outside—a partial truth). 

Hinata meets him sometimes, during his morning jogs. Sometimes, he runs with him. Sometimes, he stays on his bike and teases him because he’s _Hinata_ and that’s something about him that won’t ever change, and Tobio doesn’t want it to. 

They go to the movies together, sometimes. Hinata’s greedy with the popcorn, but makes up for it with the way he slides his hand into Kageyama’s (and it serves a dual purpose, really; the contact is nice, and if his hand is otherwise occupied, he’s not stealing popcorn… not that it really matters when Kageyama’s too distracted to _care_ about the popcorn, or the movie). 

They watch sunsets together, some nights. Some nights, they stay out late enough to stargaze. It’s funny how, when you like someone, you’re happy to do everything and anything and nothing with them, even if some of those things are things you’ve never paid much attention to, before (Kageyama’s started to pay a _lot_ of attention to these little, seemingly insubstantial things that quite obviously mean a lot to Shouyou). 

Without fail, they practice volleyball together on a regular basis. Without fail, they get sidetracked with whatever they’re doing, getting lost in kisses and touches and quiet laughter and words that never seemed to mean all that much to Tobio before, but mean a hell of a lot right now. He can listen to Shouyou talk about the most mundane things, and yet, all of it has _meaning_. And maybe that’s what it’s really all about, when you like someone this much—you find something wonderful in the ordinary. 

Not that Kageyama’s really one to wax philosophical. He knows that volleyball is probably the only thing he’s really _good_ at, knows that having Hinata spike his tosses has always given him a rush which has only intensified as time has pushed forward; he knows that Hinata’s smile makes him feel weak in his knees sometimes, knows that his kisses make him shiver and _melt_ , knows that when Hinata pulls back, dazed and with kiss-swollen lips, it makes him feel a different sort of triumph—one that is and yet isn’t like what he feels on the court. It’s amazing.

He knows that, these days, they probably spend a little more time focusing on each other as opposed to the ball, but maybe only by a marginal amount. After all, volleyball is something both of them love, and something both of them love to do _together_ ; it’s what brought them together, after all, and isn’t that funny? It seems so long ago, when they stood on opposite sides of the net, glaring at each other.

(Admittedly, they may now stand on the same side of the net but they still glare at each other sometimes, just a little differently.)

Tobio wishes that he could stop time, somewhere towards the end of August, before summer break is over and they’re forced to go back to ‘reality’, only now they’ll have to work out how to juggle school, volleyball, _and_ their relationship. It’s as simple as breathing, when it’s just the two of them, away from everyone else. These moments that they stumble into alone, together, away from the rest of the world, are bright points of light that Tobio (perhaps selfishly) wants to keep all to himself. 

He wishes he could stop time, freeze it right here, just like this, with Hinata’s head pillowed on his chest, his stupid hair tickling his nose as he points at the sky, laughter bubbling from his lips, and all Kageyama feels is _elation_.

Right here and now, everything is perfect and he wants to keep it that way.

The thing is, though—time doesn’t really stop for anyone, does it?

~*~

“What do we do?” Kageyama asks in a hushed whisper as he clutches his phone to his ear and waits, impatiently, for a sensible response. He has no idea why he’s whispering.

“… About what?” Hinata asks, and Tobio can hear the confusion in his voice.

“About _us_ , dumbass!” So much for the whispering. “How are we supposed to act? Nobody knows that we—I mean, nobody but _us_ , and--”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Shouyou laughs and Kageyama kind of wants to crawl through the phone and smack him on top of his ridiculous, care-free head. “It’s gonna be all right, you know. We’ll just be _us_ and it’ll work itself out.”

Tobio’s not sure he knows how to reconcile Summer Break ‘Us’ with School ‘Us’, and it’s causing more anxiety than he’d ever anticipated. Meanwhile, Hinata’s just as calm as can be, going on about volleyball and everything else as usual, and Tobio’s sitting and stewing in his worry, and Hinata’s not the least bit concerned about what might or might not happen once they go back to school, and (not for the first time, though Tobio wouldn’t admit it out loud to save his life, probably) Tobio wishes he could be a little more like Hinata in that respect. 

“Are you listening?” Hinata asks after a moment, and Kageyama realizes he’s probably missed a cue; Hinata’s probably asked a question that’s gone in one ear and out the other.  
Kageyama grunts.

“Uuuuuggghhhh my boyfriend is such a jerk and he worries too much,” Hinata grumbles and Kageyama’s train of thought gets stuck on the word ‘boyfriend’ and stays there, and he feels himself smile, just a little, his heart instantly lighter, fucking _soaring_. 

“Your boyfriend thinks rationally,” Tobio feels the need to point out.

But Hinata isn’t having any of it. “He _worries too much_ and everything is going to be _fine_. I know it. Now, please try to sleep, Worry-yama, and we’ll deal with tomorrow, and everything else, when it comes. Think about volleyball.”

“I _am_ thinking about volleyball,” Kageyama insists, perhaps a little exasperated. “And the team. And what we’re gonna do, and how we’re going to act, and that’s what got me into this mess in the first place.”

“Ka. Ge. Ya. Ma.” Maybe Shouyou sounds a little exasperated, too. “You trust me when you toss to me, right? No matter the outcome. You _trust_ me.”

“Of course, idiot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t toss to you.”

“Exactly. Just… trust me with this too, okay? I’m not going to push you. I’m not going to ask you to do something that will make you uncomfortable. This is going to work _itself_ out and you are thinking entirely too much about it.” He laughs again, and Kageyama doesn’t want to smack him for it, this time. “Give those bouncing balls in that brain of yours a rest. If it’s thinking about tomorrow that’s got you so worked up, volleyball included, think about something else.”

“Fine. Goodnight, Hinata.”

“Goodnight. And even though you’re worried about it, I’m still excited to see you tomorrow.”

After they hang up, Tobio closes his eyes. He doesn’t think about school or volleyball. He thinks about Hinata and what it feels like to kiss him, to slide his fingers into his hair and tug him as close as he can. 

He doesn’t sleep much, but it isn’t because of _worry_.

(That counts for something, right?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, as always, for reading! I hope you will continue to enjoy this!


	6. Summer to Autumn (September)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Shouyou makes a sound too, shifting against him, and when he does, Kageyama can perfectly **feel** how this is affecting Shouyou, and it sends a wave of heat lancing through him, makes him feel light-headed and makes him feel… a whole plethora of things, predominantly **want**._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Secret make-out sessions, revelations, and phone sex, oh my!
> 
> (Plus, a hint of TsukiYama.)

Early September days bring with them a bit of rain and (thankfully) cooler temperatures. Thanks to the mountain, it isn’t as humid here as it is in other places, but the summers can still be pretty oppressive. Needless to say, Tobio’s grateful for the change. Plus, lately, Hinata’s been wearing the jacket Tobio leant him back in May, and seeing him in it is definitely a bonus, even if he’s only able to wear it before school and after.

Working out the mechanics of how their relationship has advanced while on school grounds and while in front of their teammates proves to be… tricky, and something that Kageyama would much rather not think about altogether. He and avoidance are good friends, after all, even though running and hiding hasn’t proved to benefit him all that much in the past.

They try to act normally, but their new normal is a little different from their old normal, and Kageyama’s pretty sure _everyone_ notices. Thankfully, nobody’s given them shit so far, and they function just as well on the court together as well as they always have. So far, this… low-key thing they’ve decided on (for now) seems to be working out decently enough.

Low-key for them apparently means sharing little smiles when they pass each other in the hallways, sitting close to each other in the classes they share together, and then bickering like they always have during practice (or, at least, they think so—Noya’s gotten to where he calls them ‘a married couple’ these days, though; it’s kind of incredibly annoying). 

It also apparently means being pressed against the wall, small hands fisting his shirt, pulling him down, Hinata’s mouth hot and wet against his own and they’re supposed to be grabbing _a mop and a bucket_ , not doing _this_ … not that any part of Kageyama is actually complaining.

“It’s kind of hot,” Hinata admits as he pulls away, reaching for the mop. “Being secretive about this, kissing you right now was… a different kind of exciting.” He’s blushing faintly. Tobio’s pretty sure his own face is as red as a tomato. He doesn’t know where Hinata learned to be so bold with his words but—

\--Oh hell, he isn’t complaining about _that_ either.

By the middle of the month, they are no longer a ‘secret’, at least not from their teammates (both current and former), and it seems to come as a surprise to absolutely no-one. It doesn’t seem like news to them, but more of an inevitability that they’d just been waiting for.

Tsukishima gives him some kind of strange look from across the table (they’re all together, eating dinner, and it’s a nice ritual they have now, and Kageyama doesn’t feel like he’s going to have a heart attack over any of this anymore and he can _breathe_ without being weighed down by worry). “About time,” he says, simply. “I was beginning to think we’d have to draw you two idiots a map or something before you would figure it out.”

Tsukishima is kind of, almost _smiling_ , and not his usual ‘what have I done to deserve the misery of your presence’ smile, either. Tobio wonders if he’s stepped into some kind of alternate dimension.

“Now, give them a break, Tsukishima. They aren’t as bright as the rest of us. All they think about is volleyball, after all.” Tanaka chuckles, mouth full of food, and then promptly chokes, going for his water while Sugawara pats him almost absent-mindedly on the back.

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “Like you have room to talk,” he mumbles. Tobio is sure Tanaka can’t hear it over his coughing fit, but Yamaguchi hears it and he snickers, leaning just a little closer to Tsukishima. 

Kageyama raises an eyebrow at the pair of them, and Tsukishima returns the gesture, his almost-smile becoming a tad wider and softer at the edges.  
_Well, well._

Hinata’s nudging him none-too-gently in the side. “I _told_ you it was going to be okay,” he says, practically crows it, ‘I told you so’ written all over his facial features. 

“Shut up,” Kageyama grunts, and then leans in, whispering against the shell of Hinata’s ear: “So much for those secret make-out sessions at practice being hot because _we’re_ a secret, since we’re not anymore, huh?”

Shouyou just grins at him, the tips of his fingers brushing (probably purposefully) against the top of his hand, along his knuckles, making him jump a little. “They’ll still be out of sight, so… still hot.”

Of course, that’s his logic.

(Kageyama doesn’t mind _that_ , either.)

~*~

September’s coming to a close and things are better, more relaxed, and less tense. There are fewer things to worry about, such as the team’s reaction to the progression of their relationship. It leaves more room to focus on volleyball and (sometimes) schoolwork and the simplicity of merely existing in the same space together, breathing the same air.

They do well in Nationals this year; not quite well enough to win as they had last year, and the entire team is understandably disappointed, but determined to improve and win next year. They aren’t just a has-been team anymore; they’re stronger than they have been in years, and sometimes it’s satisfying enough to know that other teams respect them and have been taking them seriously for months now.

Later, once things are relatively back to normal, Kageyama finds himself over-analyzing every single play, wondering what he could have done better. Hinata smacks him over the head for it (something he wouldn’t have dared to do last year) and invites him over so that they can decompress and hopefully _not_ think much about the loss that’s just occurred.

This is how they eventually wind up on the couch in the living room area of Hinata’s home, not talking about Nationals or beating themselves up over it; Hinata’s sister and parents have long since gone to bed, and they’re watching some television show that Kageyama’s admittedly not paying much attention to. He’d rather count Hinata’s breaths, focus on the weight of his smaller body against Kageyama’s own. They’re sprawled out, Hinata leaning back against him, Kageyama’s arms around Hinata’s waist, and it’s comfortable. Kageyama could go to sleep just like this, right here, on this couch.

He can’t, though, because he’d told his parents that he’d be back home tonight and he’d said nothing about the possibility of staying over at Hinata’s… not that that’s something that _hasn’t_ crossed his mind… but maybe next time. 

“I need to go,” he murmurs, kissing the top of Shouyou’s head. “Getting sleepy.”

Hinata hums softly, tipping his head back and looking at him upside-down. It’s cuter than Kageyama wants to admit. “You’d better get going, then, don’t want _you_ falling off the mountain on _your_ bike. You’re not as used to bike riding as I am.”

Which is true, but Tobio lightly pinches him in retaliation all the same. “Me going would require you getting off of me.”

“Good point,” Hinata concedes, although he doesn’t really move much. Well, he _does_ but not in any way that would be conducive to Kageyama getting up and going out the door. Instead, he repositions himself, turning in the circle of Kageyama’s arms and maneuvering so that they’re nose-to-nose. Hinata looks at him cross-eyed and Kageyama snorts.

“You’re an idiot,” Kageyama says. He doesn’t mean it (or maybe he does. Just a little. In the nicest way. Sometimes.)

“Yeah but you’re dating me. So what does that say about you?” Hinata waggles his eyebrows and then breaks out in a grin. “All right. Kiss me goodnight, and I’ll let you go. But not until after that.”

Kageyama barely allows him to get the words out before he’s kissing him—not because he’s in a hurry to go but because he doesn’t need to be told twice (or once, or ever) to kiss Hinata. He kisses him, slow and measured and deep, his hands slipping underneath Hinata’s shirt to touch skin, fingertips dragging over the small of his back.

Tobio can feel Hinata’s fingers in his hair, tugging, demanding, keeping his mouth right where it is, and Tobio’s happy to oblige. Hinata sucks on his tongue and he groans into the kiss, fingers splaying out flat against Hinata’s back and rubbing, kneading, dropping lower, over the shorts that Hinata’s wearing, and _squeezing_.

Shouyou makes a sound too, shifting against him, and when he does, Kageyama can perfectly _feel_ how this is affecting Shouyou, and it sends a wave of heat lancing through him, makes him feel light-headed and makes him feel… a whole plethora of things, predominantly _want_.  
It’s not the first time either of them has become aroused when together like this. It’s not the first time Hinata has pulled away from him with a sheepish little smile and a quiet apology. 

However, Kageyama has decided that he wants this time to be the last, no more apologies. He tugs Hinata back to him, hands guiding his hips, and he murmurs, “Don’t apologize for this.” He shoves his own hips upwards, a little more roughly than intended, but the contact, the friction, the heat, makes both of them tremble. He needs Hinata to feel exactly what he does to him, in this moment, wants that message to come across loud and clear.

Hinata’s watching him through lowered lashes, cheeks flushed, lips parted, and he is nearly panting. Kageyama’s pretty sure he is in a very similar state, himself.

He doesn’t mind at all.

He slides his thumb along the wet curve of Hinata’s lips, and Hinata closes his eyes and moans into it, and he’s moving again, not pulling away but pressing closer and angling his hips just _so_ , and—

_Ohhhh, fuck._

“Yes,” Hinata agrees, lips hot against Tobio’s neck. “That.”

So apparently, he’d said that out loud.

Kageyama captures Hinata’s mouth with his own again, sucks briefly on his bottom lip before trailing kisses along his jaw, and Hinata is whimpering and squirming and clutching at the front of his shirt, and if Kageyama had ever doubted that Hinata could want him like this, he certainly doesn’t question it now. The knowledge that there is no room to worry about reciprocity (or a lack thereof, which doesn’t exist in this case) here in this space between them that is full of heat and supercharged emotions makes him even bolder, and he draws back just enough to rake his fingers down Hinata’s front, and the way Hinata arches into him makes him want to do it again. Makes him want to do more, too.

A lot more.

“You gotta go,” Shouyou moans, and Tobio knows that it’s not want he wants to say. “You gotta go before I can’t _let_ you go.”

He wants to stay. With all that he is, he wants to stay.

But he knows he has to go.

He cups Shouyou’s cheek, fingers brushing lightly against overly-warm skin. He captures those clever lips in another kiss, makes it linger, pours promises of _later_ and _I’ll do this right_ into it. 

“I’ll make this up to you next time,” he murmurs against Hinata’s lips before pulling back.

“Don’t think I’ll let you forget about it.” Hinata’s smile is teasing but those eyes are full of fire. “Let me know when you’re home, okay?”

One more kiss, and then Kageyama’s none-too-happily heading for his bike, thinking of the most unsexy things (things that _aren’t_ Hinata Shouyou) that he can so that his ride home won’t be insanely uncomfortable the entire way.

He makes it home, no falling off the mountain, no thinking of the things he would rather be doing with – to – Hinata. He brushes his teeth and strips down to his boxers, uses the restroom, and then heads to his bedroom and climbs into bed. He considers calling Hinata, but decides against it and messages him instead.

 _Home safely_ he types, and then, before he can talk himself out of it, _I really didn’t want to leave._ He hits send.

Less than a minute later his phone rings, and he doesn’t even get any sort of greeting out before Hinata’s voice, low and breathy, reaches his ears: “I didn’t want you to leave, either.”

It’s not that he didn’t already know, not that Hinata hadn’t already made it obvious, but hearing it, especially given the way that it’s said, gives him a rush of gratification. Plus, with the way Hinata has said it… well, so much for all that work earlier, thinking of mundane, nonsensical things in order to make his hard-on go away. All that’s been undone now, in an instant, because of Hinata.

He’s panting softly, right into Tobio’s ear. It’s almost as if he’s here, with him. Tobio wishes that he were.

Kageyama licks his lips, swallows, asks, “What’re you…?” but he lets the question trail off, doesn’t finish it.

Hinata chuckles, and the sound sends an unexpected shiver dancing down Kageyama’s spine. “Come on, Tobio. You’re the genius here, right? I think you can figure it out.”

Kageyama is pretty certain his ‘genius’ abilities don’t extend beyond the confines of the volleyball court. However, he doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on on the other end of the line. He knows. Hinata knows that he knows.

He reaches down to adjust himself – that’s all, _really_ – but the instant his palm comes in contact with the bulge in his boxers, he hisses and involuntarily arches up into it, need winding through him, pooling in his belly, making the base of his spine tingle and making his erection throb. Hinata makes this soft, awed sound, and god, if that doesn’t make him leak pre-cum; he can feel it, wet beneath his fingers.

“Yes,” Shouyou moans, “yes, do it too. Let me hear you. I need to hear you.”

 _Fuuuuuuck_. The words do all kinds of things to Tobio—they make that need escalate to a fever-pitch. They make him shiver. They make him wish, more than anything, that they were physically together, right here and right now.

He also can’t help but wonder where Hinata learned to talk like that, all dangerous and low and so unashamed, but then again, he’s never really been one to have trouble voicing exactly how and what he feels. 

And Kageyama is absolutely, utterly helpless to deny him in this moment (in _any_ moment, honestly). 

“Okay,” he tells Hinata, and he holds the phone between his cheek and shoulder as he lifts his hips and pushes at his boxers, stopping when they’re midway down his thighs, because that’s going to have to be good enough. 

He thinks, _I can’t believe I’m doing this_.

Thought processes change the instant he wraps his hand around his length and gives himself a slow, firm tug. He thinks of what Hinata had felt like against him earlier, thinks of what he’d wanted to do then, thinks of what he _will_ do, later.

“ _Tobio_ ,” Hinata groans and Kageyama’s breath snags painfully in his throat, and he stops thinking and just lets himself _feel_.

He can hear the sounds he’s making as he touches himself. He doesn’t pay that much attention to his own noises, but he listens raptly to Shouyou. He’ll remember these sounds, every hitched breath, every guttural moan. He’ll make Shouyou replicate them later, when they’re alone together again. The anticipation, the sheer _need_ to do so, makes the tension in his abdomen build, makes him stroke himself faster, harder.

Hinata’s breathing has become incredibly ragged—soft little pants that make Kageyama’s heart beat double-time in his chest. He’s losing it, both of them are, and it’s insanely, incredibly erotic, listening to Hinata. It’s a million times better than any pornography Kageyama has ever skimmed through; he’s never been a fan of _porn_ , but this? This will be his soundtrack any time he touches himself from now on, because this is so much more than nameless faces on a screen. This is Hinata, this is both of them, and that does something to Kageyama that nothing else can or probably ever will.

“Close,” Hinata moans, and the word alone makes Kageyama tremble, makes his hand move faster of its own accord. 

“Me too,” he manages to grit out, and then he hears Hinata’s breath stutter, hears him gasp and whine, long and low, listens as Hinata falls apart.

It proves to be his own undoing, and Kageyama follows within a matter of milliseconds, a soft, helpless groan tearing itself from his throat as he comes, his release spattering his chest and abdomen. 

It takes him a minute to stop gasping for breath, to come down from the high. When he does, he frowns slightly at the mess that he’s made of himself—or rather, the mess that _Hinata_ has made of him.

“Soooo _that_ happened,” Hinata says after a moment, playful, happy laughter threading through his words. “It was amazing.”

“Mmhmm,” Tobio agrees, and then yawns. “Doesn’t quite make up for earlier though, so my promise still stands.”

“Oh, I’m still looking forward to that,” Shouyou says, as if in reassurance. “But right now, I’ll take what I can get, and listening to you, knowing what you were doing, was… god, it was….” He trails off, apparently incapable of finding an adequate adjective. Kageyama can relate.

“Mmm,” Kageyama hums in response, and then, “Alright, I gotta go clean up some and then I’m going to sleep.”

“Me too.” There is a brief pause. “Sleep well, Naughty-yama. Goodnight.”

Kageyama snorts and rolls his eyes. “You too. Goodnight.”

After ending the call, he makes another trip to the bathroom, boxers still shoved partly down his legs, and he shuffles around awkwardly, thankfully without tripping and giving himself a concussion.

Once he’s made it back to bed, he slips under the covers and gets settled. He closes his eyes. 

He idly wonders if this is going to become a regular thing between them, too.

The thought makes him smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a little more steamy up in here, y'all. XD
> 
> As always, I hope you are continuing to enjoy this! Thank you so much for reading!


	7. Autumn (October)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Hinata has a mouth full of pork bun and he grins at the not-question, looking a little bit like a hamster. Once he’s swallowed the food, he waggles his eyebrows at Kageyama and says, “A sleepover Saturday night? Do you have ulterior motives?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you guys are all thinking, _finally_ , still. :D

October means autumn break. It also means the beginning of the second semester of school, but their break comes first. More importantly, it also means time that Kageyama can spend with Hinata, uninterrupted by classes. They can _play volleyball_ without having to worry about studying, for a few days at least. 

Even more important than that, it means this: “You should ask your parents if it’s okay if you stay at my place this Saturday night. Mine already said it was fine.”

Hinata has a mouth full of pork bun and he grins at the not-question, looking a little bit like a hamster. Once he’s swallowed the food, he waggles his eyebrows at Kageyama and says, “A sleepover Saturday night? Do you have ulterior motives?”

Kageyama doesn’t know whether to laugh or blush but it doesn’t really matter because he can’t control either reaction; he does both, not quite meeting Hinata’s eyes as he as-smoothly-as-he-possibly-can returns with, “What do _you_ think?”

(And it doesn’t sound smooth at all, not even a little bit, but Shouyou doesn’t seem to mind.)

“If you’re making good on your promise, then I like the way you’re thinking.” Hinata sidles up to him, gives him a bite of his pork bun, and smiles, soft and free and _happy_. “I’ll ask my parents tonight. I’m positive they won’t mind. So I’ll see you Saturday evening?”

“Be there in time for dinner,” Tobio tells him. 

Hinata shows up at his door at six-fifteen Saturday evening and Kageyama shows him inside; this isn’t the first time Hinata has had dinner with Kageyama and his parents; this isn’t the first time he’s chatted animatedly and made his mother laugh at the table. This isn’t the first time they’ve watched movies on the couch after and thrown popcorn at each other (and have had to clean it up right after because Kageyama’s dad is not a fan of stepping on popcorn with bare feet); this isn’t the first time they’ve taken turns in the bathroom showering and getting ready for bed. This isn’t the first time they’ve rolled out the futon that Hinata always sleeps on when he’s here. They’ve done this numerous times over the past couple of years; nothing is different, and yet _everything_ is different, because now, they’re _together_ , and….

Well, Kageyama’s pretty set on Hinata not needing that damn futon, for one thing.

Even still, he raises an eyebrow at Hinata as he approaches the bed wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of boxer-briefs, an almost-expectant little smirk on his face. “What’re you doing over here?” Kageyama asks teasingly, and Hinata appears crestfallen, though both of them know that it’s a bluff, as is Kageyama’s question.

“Well, if you don’t want me over here….” Hinata trails off and turns around, presumably heading for the futon, but Tobio doesn’t let him get very far at all. He loops his arms around Hinata’s waist and pulls him down onto his lap, holding him close.

“You know better, dumbass,” he lightly chides, resting his chin on Shouyou’s shoulder.

“Hmm maybe.” Hinata leans back against him, and it’s comfortable. It’s nice. “But maybe I just wanted you to do something like this, too.”

“Weren’t you the one asking me about ulterior motives before? Look at you. Pot, kettle.” Kageyama loosens his hold, moves his hands so that he can lightly tickle Hinata’s sides, which results in Hinata laughing and squirming, and it’s the squirming that makes Kageyama want to do something else.

Slowly, he slips his hands under Hinata’s shirt, not missing his sharp intake of breath as his fingers come into contact with bare skin. He traces meaningless patterns, pausing at the places that make Hinata sigh. Kageyama presses his lips to Hinata’s neck as he splays one hand out over the expanse of his chest. He can feel how his heartbeat has quickened (teeth follow lips and Hinata’s pulse speeds up even more). 

Both hands are moving now, up and over, fingers skittering over hardened nipples. Shouyou makes a noise low in his throat when Tobio does that, so he takes it a step further, pinching and rolling flesh between thumbs and forefingers, and _oh_ , Shouyou likes that. The sound he makes isn’t as quiet this time, and he arches into Tobio’s hands, and Tobio nips at his earlobe, his own breaths coming faster, shorter, as he trails one hand down, appreciating the feel of Shouyou’s abdominal muscles flexing beneath his fingers.

Heart hammering in his chest, his pulse and his erratic breathing loud in his ears, Kageyama slips his hand beneath the waistband of Hinata’s boxer-briefs, his fingers curling tentatively around the hardness that he finds there; he gives a firm squeeze and stroke, no attempt at rhythm whatsoever, and Hinata groans, his head falling back, and Kageyama suddenly wishes he could see his face.

“Good?” he asks, and Hinata nods rapidly, though the motion itself is minute. The roll of his hips, however, is not, and Kageyama hisses, thumbing the head of Hinata’s erection, wanting and needing more room to work, more freedom to touch; he wants to tell Hinata to lift his hips more so that Kageyama can slip his underwear down and off, but for the moment he just keeps pressing and rubbing, Hinata’s length hard and hot in his hand and wet at the tip. His lips find a particularly sensitive spot on Hinata’s neck and his teeth do too, and he feels Hinata’s cock throb (his own does as well, admittedly) as he worries at that spot with teeth and tongue, causing Hinata to make some rather delightful noises that are even better than the ones he’d made over the phone, when they’d both been touching themselves and wishing that it were more than that.

That had been amazing. This… _this_ is even better, a million times better.

“Stop,” Hinata gasps out, and everything grinds to a halt. Reluctantly, Kageyama moves his hand, and he’s on the verge of apologizing, not understanding the sudden appearance of rejection and almost-hurt that he feels in his gut, when Hinata stands and turns to face him. 

_I’m sorry_ dies on the tip of his tongue when Hinata settles back onto his lap again, facing him this time. Tobio’s not sure where to place his hands now, but chooses to rest them on Hinata’s hips while the anxiety fades just as quickly as it had made is presence known.

“I need to kiss you,” Hinata states, and it’s explanation enough. 

“Oh,” Kageyama returns softly, stupidly, and then Hinata’s lips are moving against his and there’s not much opportunity for conversation, after that.

They break apart only long enough to rid each other of their shirts, and then Hinata’s hands are on him, too, exploring, fingers tracing haphazard, invisible patterns on his skin, and Tobio’s holding on, some part of him not quite believing that _this is happening_. It’s more and better than any fantasy his mind has conjured up since he’s started feeling these things for Hinata. It makes him light-headed and it’s almost _too_ much, and yet, he wants _more_.

A hand slips boldly between them, Hinata’s smaller fingers finding the slit at the front of his boxers and dipping shallowly inside, brushing lightly along the underside of his erection; it’s a wonderfully _cruel_ gesture, that tease of a touch, and he knows that Hinata knows it; he nips at his bottom lip in retaliation for it (which causes Hinata to emit a soft whimper) and rocks his hips up against those fingers, telling Hinata in no uncertain terms what he wants.

“Got you,” Hinata murmurs, understanding, and the instant his fingers close around him and he gives an experimental stroke up and back down again, Kageyama groans helplessly and feels himself shiver from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. He surrenders to the feeling of Hinata’s hand on him, eyes closing and lips parting, his tongue darting out to tangle with Hinata’s once more as Hinata laps lightly at his lips.

Shouyou touching him is absolutely _nothing_ like Tobio touching himself. He’s feeling half-crazed already and neither of them are completely naked yet, which needs to be remedied, pronto.

He tugs, impatient and imploring, at the waistband of Shouyou’s underwear. “I want these off,” he says, his voice strangely hoarse, gravelly, utterly affected.

“Do you?” Hinata all but purrs, eyes hooded and dark and _god_ he’s beautiful. His fingers squeeze and Kageyama sucks in a quick breath, just barely keeping himself from shoving his hips up into Hinata’s grip. “I want these off, too.” His hands are moving again, but Kageyama doesn’t have time to mourn the loss of contact when it comes to his aching cock, because Hinata’s hands are on his chest and they’re shoving at him lightly, urging him to lay down.

So Tobio does as prompted, falling back against the mattress with a muffled thud, lifting his hips to assist Shouyou in the removal of his boxers, and then he is completely naked and Shouyou’s eyes are raking down his body, lingering at his pelvis, and the scrutiny almost makes him want to squirm from nervousness.

“You’re amazing,” Hinata breathes, his gaze traveling slowly back up Kageyama’s body; their eyes meet and hold, and the hunger that Kageyama sees in those deep brown orbs does _something_ to him, makes him want to squirm for entirely different reasons.

The bulge in Hinata’s boxer-briefs is very, _very_ noticeable, and on impulse, Kageyama grazes his fingertips over it before hooking his fingers under the waistband once more. “I thought I said I wanted _yours_ off, not mine.” 

The answering smirk isn’t apologetic in the slightest. “I wanted yours off, too.” Hinata doesn’t put up a fight when Tobio pulls that last remaining flimsy barrier down far enough for his erection to spring free, but then Tobio has to pause to do some staring of his own.  
_“Shou_ ,” he whispers, “you’re perfect.” 

And he is; his stature is small but his body is all lean muscle and Tobio realizes, unsurprisingly, that he wants his hands and mouth on every single inch of him. He watches as Hinata shifts, shoving his underwear down and off and then he reaches for him without thinking, pulling him down, wrapping his fingers around him again and tugging, loving the keening moan that Hinata makes in response, loving the way the tip is so very _wet_. Kageyama rubs his palm over the head, smearing that wetness, dragging his hand back down, gripping Hinata tightly and stroking and—

Ohhh, _yes_ , this is so _very_ much better than just doing it to himself.

Tobio rolls them so that he’s got Shouyou pinned beneath them, and Shouyou doesn’t protest, just looks up at him, open and wanting and smoky-eyed. _God_ , Kageyama could almost come just from that look alone.

At the first brush of Hinata’s erection against his lower belly, both of them moan and arch into it, both of them seeking more contact. Tobio shifts his hips a little, feels his own length slide along the hot crease where Hinata’s thigh meets his pelvis and everything goes white. It’s an awkward motion, bending so that he can press his lips to Hinata’s again, but it’s worth it, so worth it, to swallow the moan that Hinata makes, to feel those arms wrap around him and hold him close.

Tobio has every intention of going slowly, of dragging this out, of making it last. He _does_ , but then Shouyou begs, “Please,” all raspy and needy, mouth slick against Tobio’s, and so much for taking his time. That _please_ makes his own need roar and twist and _demand_ and fuck, Tobio can’t deny either of them.

He shifts again, fitting their bodies together so that when he rocks his hips, their erections rub together and it’s mind-numbingly _good_. It’s friction and heat and more pleasurable than Tobio could have ever dared dream it could possibly be, and he understands why people lose their minds over this, because with the right person, it’s incredibly easy to do. Perfectly plausible.

Kageyama feels pretty fucking mindless, right now, with Hinata’s hands on him, Hinata’s mouth sucking a bruise over his clavicle, Hinata’s legs around his waist and Hinata’s hips shoving up against his own. Their rhythm becomes frantic and there’s no slowing it down; Kageyama’s lost in the feel of it all, Hinata beneath him like this and moaning, arching up to meet him thrust for thrust. 

It’s beautifully, terrifyingly vertiginous, and it gives Kageyama a high that he doesn’t think any drug addict has ever managed to achieve. He can’t imagine any alcohol making him nearly as drunk as Hinata’s kisses, can’t fathom any narcotic-induced stupor that would equate to _this_ , to the simple and yet overwhelmingly complex connection between two people who are absolutely crazy about each other.

He’s not going to last and he knows it. He tries to warn Shouyou, but all that escapes his lips is a ragged groan which Shouyou seems to translate just fine all the same, because he bucks his hips upwards harder and faster and then Tobio hears him cry out, _feels that sound_ reverberate in his chest and in his cock too, feels Shouyou tremble, his release spurting hot and slick between them. Tobio follows, making sounds that are almost animalistic in nature as he topples over the edge, all but collapsing onto Shouyou seconds later. 

“You’re heavy,” Hinata says, although it doesn’t sound like much of a protest.

“Shut up,” Kageyama grumbles, and then he’s kissing Hinata again, soft and gentle and lingering. “Come on, we need to clean up.”

Another trip to the bathroom, and then they’re back in bed, Hinata curled against him, head pillowed on his shoulder and one leg thrown over both of his. 

Kageyama’s heart is soaring.

He doesn’t think it’ll ever come down.

~*~

In the weeks that follow, they become increasingly bolder with their sneaking kisses and touches at school, behind their friends’ and teammates’ backs, something just shy of exhibitionism, in a sense. It’s thrilling and it’s _dirty_ and it only _adds_ to everything they already have. 

Their little sleepover has catapulted them into things like them staying late after practice under the guise of cleaning up (even though they really _do_ clean up, eventually) just so they can get lost in each other and utilize the gym floor for purposes that have absolutely nothing at all to do with volleyball. It means that they have to clean themselves up along with everything else, but it’s more than worth it.

When they’re having their get-togethers with the team (plus the former third-year bunch), it leads to Hinata sometimes touching him below the table, out of sight of everyone else. Tobio is more than happy to return the favor, and by the end of the evening they both tend to be needy messes that _make_ needy messes, once they’re away from prying eyes and knowing smirks.

It leads to more of those breathless late-night phone calls in which there’s more moaning and whimpering than actual talking going on, and Tobio knows that they’re teenage boys and this is all kind of normal but _damn_ he’s pretty fucking sure that nobody in the history of the entire fucking universe has ever wanted anyone as much or as often as he wants Hinata Shouyou.

It can prove to be absolutely _torturous_ at times, but the thing is, it’s the absolute best type of torture that exists.

And then there are different kinds of torture:

“Pleeeeeaaaase?” Hinata whines into the phone and Kageyama huffs. He hasn’t been trick-or-treating in _years_ , and here Hinata is, asking him if he’ll go with him and Natsu.

“… I’m not dressing up,” Kageyama insists, and that’s as close to a _yes_ \- or at least an incredibly reluctant _okay_ \- as he’s going to give Shouyou. 

“I’m not either!” Hinata insists. “I’m only taking Natsu! And there are more houses closer to where you live, and it’s an excuse to see meeeeee.”

Well, it isn’t like Kageyama can really argue with that, so he doesn’t. “If you dress up I’m going to laugh at you,” he warns, but he’s smiling even as he says it. “I’m going to laugh and act like I don’t know you.”

“Meanie-yama.” Tobio can hear Hinata blow a raspberry. “I. Am. Not. Dressing. Up. And we’ll see you Friday at seven-thirty.”

Hinata is true to his word in some respects come seven-thirty the following Friday night. In others? Not so much. He _is_ on time, with Natsu in tow (she’s dressed as a goblin), but he isn’t without his own costume: he’s wearing his jersey, and his hair is black, probably thanks to some temporary spray-on hair dye. He’s _The Little Giant_ and he looks equal parts cute and ridiculous.

True to _his_ word, Kageyama doubles over laughing. “Really?!”

“Shut up,” Hinata mutters, face tomato-red, “it wasn’t _my_ idea.”

Natsu’s bouncing excitedly up and down. “I wanted him to dress up, too!” Noticing Kageyama’s complete lack of an ensemble, however, she frowns. “You should too, Yama-yama!” 

Tobio steps back and shakes his head, something akin to horror setting in. “I don’t have anything to wear. I haven’t gone trick-or-treating in a long time, Natsu.”

“Awe.” Natsu looks absolutely crestfallen, insomuch that Kageyama feels a little disappointed in himself. Was this how she’d responded when Hinata had told her that he wasn’t going to wear a costume? Had he caved because of it? If so, Kageyama suddenly understands why and it makes him feel an unexpected surge of affection for Hinata.

“Hang on,” he tells them before he can think better of it. One trip back to his bedroom (to dig through his closet and dresser drawers) later, and he’s standing before them again, with the addition of a baseball cap on his head. It clashes with what he’s already wearing and doesn’t make him look like anything more than an idiot wearing a baseball cap, but it seems to satisfy Natsu well enough (although Kageyama can’t figure out why) and that’s good enough for Kageyama.

Hinata’s laughing, and Tobio scowls at him even though he knows he deserves it. 

“I will bite you,” he threatens without even really pausing to consider the words that are coming out of his mouth.

Shouyou waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Don’t threaten _me_ with a good time,” he says with this sly little grin that makes Kageyama’s body want to react in ways that would be very _inopportune_ at this present moment.

_Later_ he mouths as he drops a few pieces of candy into Natsu’s bag, and then: “You want some candy too, Little Giant?” He offers Hinata a chocolate-filled marshmallow treat, and it’s no surprise at all that Hinata takes it. 

They make their trek through the neighborhood, Natsu looking quite appropriately scarily-adorable, Kageyama and Hinata looking different, complimenting levels of ridiculous. They don’t approach any doors and ask for candy, but they’re content to watch Natsu happily hold out her bag for treats.

“Thanks for coming with us,” Hinata tells him as they are making their way back from the final house of the evening. He slips his hand into Kageyama’s, and Kageyama squeezes gently.

“It was worth it to see your stupid outfit,” Kageyama chuckles, ducking as Hinata half-heartedly swipes at him with his free hand; the baseball cap remains precariously balanced atop his head.

There’s a hell of a lot more to it than that, and both of them know it, without having to say it.

And that, Kageyama figures, is a special kind of _bliss_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you just know that Natsu has both of these boys wrapped around her cute little finger?


	8. Autumn (November)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And it is on this pleasantly chilly day in early November that all of Kageyama Tobio’s mental processes grind to a screeching halt and he’s pretty sure he feels himself have an aneurysm of some sort, but no, wait, that’s just the volleyball making contact with his head._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you tell the woman who raised you that you're dating your best friend?

There are fingers carding through his hair, the gesture sweet and gentle; this is a decidedly much better way to wake up as opposed to being shocked into wakefulness by a blaring alarm, and it is equally as effective, despite the fact that Kageyama is just as reluctant to open his eyes as he would be if he’d been woken up by his alarm. It’s a Saturday; he could sleep in. _They_ could. Hell, for all he knows at this point, maybe they _have_.

“Sleepy-yama, if you don’t wake up, I’m going to drink your share of the milk.”

The threat earns a one-eyed glare from Kageyama (he doesn’t feel like opening both eyes just yet). “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, but I _would_ ,” Hinata insists, fingers now lightly massaging Kageyama’s scalp.

Tobio emits an involuntary little moan, closing his eye before slowly blinking both eyes open. “That isn’t exactly an incentive to get out of bed, you know… even though the whole milk-stealing thing is. Are you always this rude to your guests?”

Hinata gasps, looking mildly affronted. “Rude? Last night was _rude_?”

Kageyama rolls his eyes, sitting up and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of Hinata’s lips. “No, last night was incredible, but if that’s the kind of hospitality you show to everyone, it might make me a little upset.”

Shouyou’s little bark of laughter stirs something inside of Tobio’s chest. Something warm, radiant, like Shouyou’s smile. “Only the special ones get that kind of treatment.” He winks.

“Oh so I’m not the only one?” He reaches for Hinata but his attempt at capturing his silly boyfriend (who is apparently full of jokes this morning) is thwarted when Hinata wriggles out and away from his grasp. 

“If I make it to the table first, I get _your_ pancakes _and_ your milk,” Hinata warns him in a sing-song voice, and Kageyama bristles just a little because Hinata’s mom makes _delicious_ pancakes and he’s never missed out on them any time he’s spent the night with Hinata. Not once. 

“You wouldn’t,” he repeats, and Shouyou just grins at him; his hair is sticking out at odd angles but he’s dressed, and Kageyama only has on a pair of boxers presently, which isn’t proper attire for breakfast with the boyfriend’s family on Saturday morning. Not that either of their families _know_ but….

He loses precious half-seconds while his brain gets stuck and fumbles over that thought—the idea that everyone pretty much _knows_ about them, except their respective families. 

It’s something to consider, he thinks, although given that Hinata’s already rushed out of the bedroom at break-neck speed and Kageyama’s barely managed to disentangle himself from the bedsheets, he figures it can wait and he can ponder on it more later, after breakfast, preferably. 

Shouyou wins, of course, what with his unfair head start. He doesn’t take Kageyama’s share of pancakes, though. Or his milk. He just smiles wickedly at him above the table and plays footsie with him below it. Kageyama briefly considers kicking him, but ultimately decides against it because he figures that’ll draw more attention, so he sips at his glass of milk and scarfs down his pancakes, making polite conversation with Hinata’s parents and entertaining Natsu, smiling widely and accepting when Shouyou’s mother offers him seconds. The whole time, Hinata’s brushing chilly toes along the tops of his feet, his ankles, every portion of his body that those short legs can reach, and Kageyama retaliates with similar treatment even though he doesn’t really mind Shouyou’s cold feet at all.

(It’s just an excuse to touch, and they will greedily accept any and all of those that they can get.)

After breakfast, Hinata’s dad heads to the office to pick up an extra shift, his mom takes Natsu out for a playdate, and Kageyama and Hinata camp out on the sofa for a couple of hours, channel-surfing and cuddling, talking and kissing and—

\--not really paying much attention to the television at all, really.

They eventually decide to go for a walk. Hinata brings his volleyball. They toss it back and forth a few times. It’s beautiful, outside. The leaves are changing and falling and all different shades of yellow and red and brown and orange. Some of them almost match the shade of Hinata’s hair. Kageyama likes those the best. 

His mind wanders back to the topic of their families being in the dark when it comes to the nature of their relationship as it is, now. 

“When should we tell them?” Tobio asks without preamble as he tosses the ball to Hinata.

“Huh?” Hinata’s receive is a little off, an indication of his obvious distraction and confusion in regards to the question.

“Our folks,” Kageyama clarifies, returning the ball. “About us.”

Shouyou’s receive is much smoother this time, and he looks marginally less puzzled. “My parents already know, though.”

And it is on this pleasantly chilly day in early November that all of Kageyama Tobio’s mental processes grind to a screeching halt and he’s pretty sure he feels himself have an aneurysm of some sort, but no, wait, that’s just the volleyball making contact with his head.

“Are you all right?” Hinata’s already rushed over and is checking him for injuries, gently touching the now-sore spot on his head. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean for you to have _that_ kind of a reaction!”

“I’m fine,” Tobio groans, now feeling more guilty than anything else. “I’m an awful person to date, huh?”

Shouyou’s brows furrow in obvious misunderstanding. “Do I need to take you to a doctor? Do you have a concussion or something? What are you going on about? Why would you say that?”

Rubbing his head, Kageyama groans, “I haven’t told mine.”

Hinata is apparently not understanding the implications of this, or he simply isn’t concerned about it. “Aaaaaannnddd? Tobio, I’m going to need you to make a little more sense. You’re kinda worrying me.”

Kageyama lets himself sink to the ground, mostly because he still can’t quite believe that Hinata’s parents _know_ and only partly because he’s still seeing stars, somewhat. “Doesn’t that _mean_ something? That you’ve told yours but I haven’t told mine?” He realizes he’s probably being incredibly and unnecessarily absurd about all of this; he’s overreacting to the nth degree, no doubt, but there’s something to be said about anxiety and how it can spin the most illogical falsehood into truth. He still struggles with it, from time to time. He’s been here before, and Hinata’s been with him; it’s just a different scenario.

“It means that it hasn’t come up, or you aren’t ready to tell them yet,” Hinata says gently, his hands cupping Tobio’s face. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. You’re ready when you’re ready. I’m not going to push you.”

“Why didn’t you _tell_ me?” Tobio has to ask, even though the last thing he wants or means to do is to sound accusatory. “I’m not saying that because you weren’t supposed to tell them without letting me know or anything, but… you know.”

Hinata just smiles and shakes his head. “They were going to find out eventually, you know. I just came clean about it before they could start asking me weird questions, I guess. Granted, they still asked me some weird questions anyway, and dad barely made eye contact with me for a couple of days after, but everything’s fine now.”

Kageyama’s head’s still spinning, honestly, even though he’s relieved (and yes, perhaps still a little guilty, and a whole lotta anxious). “They know… and they still let us have sleepovers?!”

Shouyou grabs his hands and tugs as he stands, helping Kageyama stand as well. “Come on,” he says as he grabs his ball, “I think I’d feel better continuing this conversation back home, with you lying down on the couch.”

Kageyama tries to wave off Hinata’s concern with a gruff, “I’m fine, _really_ ,” but doesn’t protest when Hinata takes his hand and begins leading him back towards his house. 

“Since you asked,” Shouyou begins, changing the position of his hand so that he can lace his fingers with Tobio’s, “my parents are accepting and supportive and they trust us, but they don’t have or want to know _everything_ that we do, you know? You may not sleep on the futon or the couch anymore when you come over, but they don’t have to know that.”

Hinata’s grin is decidedly mischievous. Kageyama’s blushing. He can feel it. 

“Thank god for that.”

~*~

He decides to start by telling his mom. It takes him two weeks to work up the courage to do it. 

_You’ll be fine, and remember, no matter what, you’ve got me. If you need me to come get you, I will. Dunno how well we’ll both fit on my bike, but._

Kageyama’s not sure if this is the twentieth time he’s re-read that text from Hinata, or the one-hundredth. Who’s counting? What matters is that the words give him courage and make his heart swell to bursting within his chest; they make him want to _run_ to Shouyou and kiss him, right _now_.

His dad’s working late, and it’s just the two of them—Kageyama and his mother, tonight. He’s sitting a few feet away from her on the couch and they’re watching some silly comedy; she’s laughing at all the right moments and Kageyama’s just trying to not let his nerves make him shiver out of his own skin. He’s also trying to _not_ think about the things that he and Hinata have done on this couch, right where he’s sitting, right now. Not at all appropriate things to think about when you’re about to have a very serious conversation with your mother.

(Some of those _things_ had been perfectly innocent, though.

_Some_.)

He clears his throat. “Mom?”

She turns to look at him, her smile soft and worry-free, but it changes quickly to a small frown once she no doubt notices the look of probable sheer terror on his face, and she mutes the television. “What is it, sweetie? You look like you feel sick. Do you need to go to bed early? Are you running a fever?” She presses a hand to his forehead, and Kageyama shies away from the gentle, concerned touch of his mother.

“No,” he mumbles, not meeting her eyes. “It isn’t that. I just… need to tell you something. I should have, before now, but I didn’t know how, and I still don’t, but I’m going to say it anyway because you’re going to find out and I would rather you find out from me than from someone else telling you.” Tobio takes a deep breath, prepared to give his mother this long spiel of how he developed feelings for his best friend, even though he never intended upon it happening, and how he knows they’re both boys and a great majority of society probably-definitely has something negative to say about that, and he hopes she and his dad won’t because he wants them to _like_ Hinata as much as he does, wants them to be overjoyed that he’s found someone that makes him this happy, and he wants them to not see him any differently just because who he’s with might not be the person they envisioned for him. 

Kageyama wants to say all of this and more; he doesn’t want to leave room for his mom to get a word in edgewise until he’s finished, until he’s poured his heart and soul out to her, until he can believe that maybe, _hopefully_ , she’ll understand.

He starts with, “I really, really, _really_ like someone.”

He doesn’t get any further than that, really.

“It’s… Shouyou, isn’t it?” His mother’s voice is soft, not pushy, full of _knowing_ , lacking any trace of disappointment or disgust.

There is the acceptance of it all, right there, in that simple question.

All of the things he’d rehearsed, everything that he’d wanted to say… it all leaves his mind in an instant, and Kageyama is left gaping in astonished disbelief at the woman who birthed and raised him. He wants to possibly pass out. Or wrap his arms around his mom and never let go. 

“You… knew?” Tobio croaks, and he doesn’t know if it’s the relief that’s making him feel dizzy or the fact that his mother already _knew_ without him having said anything about it at all.

She chuckles, light and airy, not even a hint of condescension, not that he’d exactly _expected_ that from her, but he’d been _terrified_ of the prospect. “Tobio, my beautiful boy, you only really talk about the things that make you happy. Volleyball is something you always want to talk about; it’s something that makes you happy. For some time now, you’ve been talking a lot about Shouyou, too. I’m glad he makes you happy. Of course I knew, sweetheart. A mother always knows. I’m glad you mustered the courage to tell me, though. I know that was hard on you.”

Something suspiciously like tears stings his eyes and he furiously blinks them away, having to swallow past the sudden lump of emotion in his throat. “Mom….”

Her arms are around him then and Kageyama just lets himself lean into her. She smells like lavender and she’s warm and she’s caring and she isn’t mad at him at all and he still _cannot_ believe it.

“He’s a sweet boy,” she tells him, and now she sounds like she’s having to talk through tears. “You be good to him.”

“I’m trying,” Kageyama insists, and then to hopefully add some humor to the situation, “He makes it difficult sometimes.”

(He doesn’t mean it. At all.)

She _does_ laugh, and then she says something that makes Kageyama recoil, somewhat, except only his mother doesn’t let go of him so he doesn’t get very far. “Your dad owes me. I _told_ him it was Shouyou.”

“Mom!!! You and dad had a _bet_?!”

She giggles right next to his ear. “I’m kidding, honey, I’m kidding. Your father figured it out, too. You kids these days, you think you know everything and you think your poor old parents know nothing, and sweet, scared souls like you worry that we could love you any less for who _you_ love and that’s never, _ever_ going to happen.” 

Okay, so, so much for blinking back the tears.

She just holds him tighter. “I do have one request, though.”

At this point, he’d be willing to do all of the laundry and kitchen clean-up for the next five years. “What?”

“I was a teenager once. Don’t think I don’t know what’s on your mind, especially with you being a boy. Hormones going crazy, and all of that.”

All at once, Tobio squirms uncomfortably, not liking the direction in which their conversation is heading. “Mom--”

“The only thing your father and I ask of you when it comes to _that_ is that if you and Shouyou need _alone time_ , please be _discreet_ about it, and for god’s sake, son, lock your door. Okay?”

How she can say things like that, like she’s talking about the weather, all while holding him tightly against her, is beyond Kageyama. Maybe it’s a mom thing. Or maybe it’s just a _his_ mom thing. 

All in all, he supposes he’s pretty damn lucky.

(At the moment, though, he’s also pretty damn horrified to be having this conversation with his mother.)

“ _Mom_!” he screeches, wanting to do nothing more at the moment than crawl under the couch and stay there until morning, if that’s what it takes to get his mom to stop talking to him about him _having sex_ with his boyfriend.

“Now Tobio,” she says in what he supposes is meant to be a soothing tone but it only makes him cringe all the more, “we’ve had the talk before, remember? We’re not mad at you for exploring. Just be sensible about it and--” 

“ _MOM_!!!”

This is going to be the month that kills him; Kageyama is sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... don't know. Don't kill me please.


	9. Autumn to Winter (December)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Any plans for New Year’s Eve?” he asks Hinata the night after Christmas. He hopes the answer is no._
> 
>  
> 
> _“Oh, I don’t know yet,” Shouyou drawls. “My parents are having a get-together with some of their friends here after Natsu’s bedtime, and I was hoping this cute guy I like would have something in mind, because I would rather be with him than be stuck here.”_
> 
>  
> 
> _Kageyama can’t help the little grin that tugs at his lips. “Oh?” he asks. “I think if that guy you like is smart, he’ll have something in mind.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is _so_ much love here between these two. I hope this chapter really reflects that.

December means colder nights and increased reluctance to get out of bed in the morning. It means bare feet on chilly floors. It means cuddling as close as possible on the nights that they spend together. It means a dusting of snow on the mountain and impromptu snowball fights. 

It means Christmas parties and get-togethers and Asahi dressing up like Jesus for old time’s sake and earning some odd stares from their first-year teammates. As far as the rest… well, this is all business (or mayhem) as usual, really.

It means silly things like mistletoe in the doorway of Ukai’s family shop. It means, too, that Hinata absolutely takes advantage of the stupid tradition, kissing Tobio full on the mouth right in front of everyone. This, of course, leads to Tobio blushing and asking Hinata what _that_ was all about even though he knows. Yachi cheers and grins, the rest of the team catcalling while their coach yells at them to stop causing such a ruckus in front of his store (but he’s smiling when he says it).

It means racing each other in the early mornings and dragging in lungfulls of cold air that ironically burns all the way down. It’s Hinata doubled-over and catching his breath and smiling at Kageyama afterwards, like it’s all okay, and yeah, it is. It is.

It means Kageyama’s birthday, and for some reason Hinata insists that they make this whole ‘birthday under the stars’ thing a tradition of sorts, which is how they wind up outside at one in the morning, on top of a blanket and under a sky full of stars.

There’s a slice of cake, chocolate, with chocolate icing. There’s a candle, and Hinata’s brought a lighter.

The flame is bright orange, and Hinata’s grin is just as brilliant. “What’re you gonna wish for?”

“For Karasuno to keep kicking ass,” Kageyama answers, and he’s only a little serious (even though he does hope that they will continue to be amazing).

“Be serious,” Hinata pouts and Tobio snorts.

“Fine. I’m going to wish that you finally stop being so horrible at serving and--”

“I’ve gotten better!” Shouyou interjects, and yes, he has. “Remind me why I’m dating you again, Meany-yama?!”

“Because I toss to you,” Kageyama responds, all matter-of-fact. “And because I put up with your cold feet on my legs, and I hold you when you get scared, and I don’t tell anyone that you cry sometimes during sappy movies, and I give you orgasms--”

“I’m only letting you get away with saying all of that because it’s your birthday,” Hinata interrupts again. “Now, what are you _really_ going to wish for?”

Kageyama shakes his head. “Like I’m going to tell you, dumbass. It might not come true if I do.”

“Fine, fine,” Hinata makes a show of sounding exasperated but his fond smile tells Kageyama that he doesn’t mean it. He scoots closer. “Make your wish and blow out the candle, then.” 

There is a look of something akin to adoration in those eyes. Tobio can remember a time, not long ago, when Hinata would look at him like that and he would just get flustered and not really know how he was supposed to feel about it. He’d freeze like a deer caught in the headlights. But now….

Now—

Kageyama closes his eyes, wishes (with all of his might): _Please don’t ever stop looking at me like that, Shouyou._

He opens his eyes, takes a breath, and blows the candle out. Without further ado, he asks, “Can I have my cake now?”

Hinata doesn’t give him the little paper plate but he pinches off a piece of the cake itself, offering it to Kageyama, and Kageyama parts his lips, taking what Shouyou is giving him. The cake is soft and sweet, the icing smooth on his tongue. It’s good.

Hinata feeds him, bite by bite, until nearly half the piece of cake is gone, and then Tobio decides to share, pinching off a bit that’s more icing than cake (because Hinata likes the icing the best). Hinata’s tongue moving against his fingers, lapping at the icing, makes his breath catch. He withdraws his fingers, leans in to replace them with his mouth, and makes a sound low in his throat when Hinata deepens the kiss.

Hinata sets the plate of half-eaten cake aside and pushes Kageyama down against the blanket, leaning over him and smirking.

“You took my cake away,” Kageyama flatly intones, though he doesn’t really mind at all.

“You can have it back,” Hinata murmurs, lips now against his neck. “A little later, I promise.”

Those deft fingers have no trouble at all with the button and zipper of Kageyama’s pants. The night air is cold but Hinata’s hands are warm and his mouth is even warmer, and Kageyama releases a shuddering moan and tangles his fingers in soft, wild hair as Hinata takes him in, slow and deep.

He tries to keep his hips perfectly still. He really does—he just fails miserably. Hinata doesn’t seem to mind, though. He lets Kageyama push, lets him buck and writhe and hold him where he needs him to stay.

Tobio is deconstructed and made anew under those gentle hands and that clever mouth. It’s fitting, and the most real thing he’s ever known.

The hot, slick push and pull of Shouyou’s mouth and the helpless, jerky rocking of Tobio’s hips causes pleasure to mount quickly, his muscles seizing up, tightening and trembling and—

The stars that dance behind his closed eyelids are much, much brighter than the ones that dot the night sky.

“Good?” Hinata asks as he resurfaces, sounding mighty damn pleased with himself.

Breathless and disbelieving, Kageyama covers his eyes with his forearm and groans, “Really? You feel the need to ask, after _that_?”

Fingers pull lightly at his arm, urging him to move it, and he does. Hinata’s response to Kageyama’s question is a soft, sweet, “Happy Birthday, Tobio,” followed by a gentle kiss that quickly deepens (this may or may not be Kageyama’s fault).

Hinata tastes faintly of chocolate and largely of _Kageyama_ , and even though he’s just had an orgasm, tasting himself on Hinata’s tongue sends another wave of heat through him; it pools in his lower belly and he _needs_ , and he’s pretty damn sure it has less to do with raging teenage hormones and a hell of a lot more to do with the fact that Hinata makes him this way, absolutely out of his mind, and Kageyama isn’t complaining in the slightest.

He pushes Hinata down against the softness of the blanket and Hinata doesn’t fight it, but sounds a little bewildered as he says, “It’s _your_ birthday. You don’t have to do anything for me, silly.”

Something inside of his chest twists and tightens at hearing those words. Hinata had given to him, with absolutely no expectations of receiving anything in return. But that’s how it is when you feel like this for someone, right? You give, and you don’t expect to be given anything back. You give because you want to, because everything inside of you leads you to do so.

“It _is_ my birthday,” Kageyama agrees as he allows his hands to wander. “So let me unwrap my present, already.”

“I’m not a present,” Shouyou laughs and then groans as Tobio’s fingers glide over a particularly sensitive bit of skin.

“You are,” Kageyama replies, low and serious, not particularly caring how sappy he must sound. 

There’s a soft little inhale and then a pause. There’s a shiver of a sigh, full of emotion.

Hinata’s hands, pulling him down. Hinata’s fingers, tangling in his hair. Hinata’s mouth, slick and urgent, against his own. And then: “What about the cake?”

Kageyama sighs and pointedly asks, “What _about_ it?”

What would be Shouyou’s token protest, he supposes, dissolves into quiet giggles and then something else altogether as Kageyama flattens his palm against the front of Shouyou’s pants and presses and rubs. 

The ragged moans Hinata makes against his mouth taste way better than the cake, anyway.

~*~

Tobio’s birthday rolls into Christmas and then suddenly a new year is just around the corner. His parents plan to spend it at a party with friends of theirs. They tell him it’s okay if he invites friends of his own over. His mom pats him on the head and says, “Just don’t get too rowdy, okay?”

There’s only one person on his guest list.

“Any plans for New Year’s Eve?” he asks Hinata the night after Christmas. He hopes the answer is no.

“Oh, I don’t know yet,” Shouyou drawls. “My parents are having a get-together with some of their friends here after Natsu’s bedtime, and I was hoping this cute guy I like would have something in mind, because I would rather be with him than be stuck here.”

Kageyama can’t help the little grin that tugs at his lips. “Oh?” he asks. “I think if that guy you like is smart, he’ll have something in mind.”

“I don’t know.” Hinata’s smiling too. Kageyama can hear it in his voice. “This guy thinks about volleyball all the time. I can’t vouch for his intelligence. Do you have any plans?”

“I was thinking of inviting this dumbass I’m dating over for movies and stuff since my parents will be out and I don’t care much for parties.” Tobio shifts, deciding to lay back on his bed and gaze up at the ceiling. “That was the plan, you know, but then he went and insulted me, so I don’t know anymore.”

“How horrible of him,” Shouyou comments in mock-sympathy. “He really does sound like a dumbass. Why are you even dating him, anyway?”

“I’m not sure.” Kageyama pauses for dramatic effect. “I mean, he’s good at some things. Like spiking my tosses. And making me feel good. But he’s really lousy at receiving and serving--”

“I am _not_ ,” Hinata cuts in, obviously unable to contain himself, and Kageyama bursts into laughter.

When he’s able to talk again, he says, “So, plans or no? I’ll even let you pick the movies.”

“Wild party at your place on New Year’s Eve, then?”

Tobio snorts. “Wild. Yeah, right.”

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit.” Hinata’s voice drops lower. “I mean, we can get a little wild.”

Well, yes, they can, in a sense. Kageyama’s still sporting the scratches on his back to prove it, and Hinata has some marks of his own. If _that_ is the kind of wild that Hinata’s thinking of….

“I don’t mind _that_ kind of wild,” Tobio admits. “Wild party for two, then?”

“Maybe if that cute guy I like apologizes for calling me a dumbass.” He’s stalling on giving an answer on purpose. Kageyama could hang up on him, he supposes.

He doesn’t.

“Well maybe if that dumbass that I’m dating wouldn’t have insulted my intelligence, he wouldn’t have been called that.”

Hinata bursts into laughter. “Oh, that’s rich. You would’ve called me that, anyway.”

Kageyama snickers softly, just a little. “Yeah, I would have.” Because old habits die hard, and perhaps this is one that doesn’t necessarily need to die at all. It’s spoken less insultingly these days and more fondly, anyway, not that anyone would necessarily understand that save for the two of them.

Then again, they’re the only ones that need to understand it.

“Can we watch the countdown after the movies?” Hinata excitedly asks, and even though it’s never really been a huge deal for Kageyama before, ringing in a new year (it’s typically always been just another year), there’s something about it now that feels different. 

(Because, ever since all of this, everything _has_ been different.)

“Sure,” Kageyama agrees, “if I can keep my eyes open that long. You always pick boring stuff.”

“I do _not_ ,” Hinata huffs. “Keep saying stuff like that and you’re going to miss out on the wild private party.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “I thought it was _already_ supposed to be a wild, private party for just the two of us?”

“You get a backstage pass for an even wilder time. You know. If you be good.”

“Define _good_.” Because good can mean just that, but it can also mean….

“Oh, I’ll take the best definition of it you’ve got. I’ll let you know before midnight if it’s the correct one.” So, this is how Shouyou wants to play.

“It’ll be the right one,” Tobio says, and isn’t quite sure if he’s saying to convince Hinata, or to reassure himself. 

“Mmmhmm, we’ll see. So, yeah, I’ll take the cute guy up on his offer.”

“Get ready for a wild time then,” Kageyama snickers, feels his heart skip a beat and then feels warm everywhere at Hinata’s answering laugh.

‘Wild’ equates to successfully not burning the kitchen down while making curry (Hinata’s brought some meat buns too, because backup is always good, right?). It means cuddling together on the couch and watching Disney movies (Kageyama can blame Hinata for his ‘poor taste’ in movies all he wants, but he loves them too). It means throwing popcorn at each other because they can (and then cleaning it up because they’d _better_ ). It means Kageyama getting a text from his mother at ten-thirty just to make sure that he is okay and that he really _hasn’t_ somehow caused the obliteration of their humble abode (the message makes Hinata laugh, which leads Kageyama to tickling him in retaliation, which leads to more laughter and kisses and an impromptu make-out session on the couch).

Tobio’s in the middle of tracing over the fading marks on Hinata’s chest with his tongue (and making new ones) when the fingers in his hair tighten just enough to get his attention, but not sway him from the task at hand. 

“H-hey,” Shouyou stutters out, and then whimpers when Kageyama’s teeth find a hardened nipple, gently teasing. “T-Tobio, hey.”

“Hm?” Kageyama returns, quite distractedly, tongue replacing teeth, and this earns him a low hiss and an unconscious (and entirely delicious) roll of Hinata’s hips.

“ _Kageyama_ ,” Hinata tries again, pulling at his hair a little rougher this time, and it’s only slightly painful. Mostly, it just turns Kageyama on even more and sends sparks of desire rushing through him, makes him rock his own hips a little bit, just to feel some friction.

“Hmmmm?” Tobio hums in a drawn-out, lazy response, hands gripping at Hinata’s hips and pulling-pushing, wondering if Hinata would be opposed to them forgoing watching the rest of _Frozen_ for now in favor of more of _this_ , because he doesn’t want to stop and Hinata’s arousal is pressing into him, sliding against him, with every motion of their hips, and—

“Can we go to your bedroom?” Shouyou asks, voice all breathy and low, “There’s something I want to….” He trails off, eyes flickering away from Kageyama’s for a moment. “I want more. With you.”

Tobio feels warmth in the center of his chest and feels his cock twitch at those words, and he goes still and silent for a moment, just gazing down at Hinata. He has some ideas and maybe even some hopes in regards to what Hinata could mean by _more_ , but he doesn’t want to assume anything, not when it comes to something as important as this. He’ll let Hinata tell him, or show him. Either. Or both.

“Yes,” he says, finally, after spending some time just _looking_ at Shouyou, who’s sexy and beautiful and goofy (with his messy hair and his shirt rucked up) and seems just a tad uncertain in this moment. Kageyama wants to reassure him as much as he can; he isn’t used to Hinata being the unsure one. Of course, Kageyama himself is presently feeling much the same, but he _wants_ , and he wants to give Hinata whatever it is that he’s seeking in this moment, at every moment, and so it’s going to be okay. He knows it, and so he pulls away and he stands, helping Hinata up as well. 

Fingers laced together, they head for his bedroom, and once they’re there, Kageyama flips the light switch. Hinata moves away from him and begins digging through the bag he’d brought with him (he’d unceremoniously deposited it on the bedroom floor prior to kitchen shenanigans) and seeming satisfied when he returns with a little bottle of lubricant.

“So,” Hinata begins, worrying at his bottom lip, “I was thinking that… we could… that you could….” 

Kageyama’s thought about it before; of course he has. He’s read about it. He’s watched some videos. Because, honestly, he’d never forgive himself if he actually _hurt_ Hinata and apparently this is something that can be the exact opposite of pleasant, if you don’t take your time and properly prepare for it. 

He’s thought of what it might feel like, to be inside of Hinata, and he’s thought of what it might feel like to have Hinata pressing into him, filling him. On some of the nights that he’s held his phone to his ear and listened to his boyfriend moan and whimper and whisper his name, those have been a couple of the thoughts that he’s jerked off to. Tobio would admittedly be perfectly fine with either scenario, and he isn’t _afraid_ of the prospect of either of them; the newness makes him a little anxious, but it isn’t all bad. It’s an eager, curious sort of nervousness. One that is perfectly normal and natural to feel.

Shouyou eventually finds the words that he wants to say, apparently, and they interrupt Tobio’s thoughts: “I want to feel you, inside me.” He looks almost like he can’t believe he’s said it, and he’s flushed (no doubt due to a combination of embarrassment and arousal) and he’s waiting and he’s still _very_ hard, his tented sweatpants giving him away. It lets Tobio know that yeah, he’s nervous too, but he _wants_ , just as Tobio wants, and that makes it all that much better when Tobio steps closer, placing his fingers beneath Hinata’s chin and making him tip his head back so that Tobio can kiss him.

He licks into Shouyou’s mouth and Shouyou moans and shudders a little, his tongue curling slick and warm against Kageyama’s. Hearing what Shouyou wants makes Kageyama’s pulse quicken, makes him throb and groan in response, fingers clutching at the front of a shirt that he desperately wants out of the way at the moment. 

“I was worried,” Hinata admits after they break apart several seconds later, “I thought you’d look at me weird, or think I was being gross to even suggest it, or--”

“It’s you,” Tobio intones, gently but with gravity. And then, “Of _course_ you’re gross,” which makes Hinata laugh and shove gently at him, only to lean up for another kiss. It’s too tempting for Tobio to resist, really, so he doesn’t try.

When their lips part again, Kageyama leans his forehead against Hinata’s and tries again, no joking this time: “I want you. In every way that you are comfortable with me having you. You don’t have to wonder about that, ever. But if you ever do, all you have to do is ask.” He’s not good with words, ever, but he wants to be. At least, when it comes to important things like this. He tries to be.

Shouyou kisses him again, quickly, softly, tongue flicking out to tease momentarily at Tobio’s lips and make him sigh and ache. “It’s just… we haven’t talked about it, but I’ve been wondering, a lot lately, especially. And I just want to _feel_ you, like that. I’ve… uhm… you know. To myself. With my fingers. And it feels _really_ good, and I know it’ll feel better if you do it. And if you do more.”

_Oh. Oh, god._

Tobio imagines Shouyou like that, fingers inside himself, the tips brushing against that place Tobio’s read about, and heat lances through him, making him feel as weak-kneed as a fumbling newborn fawn for a moment. He can feel himself throbbing, even the loose pants he’s wearing now feeling too tight, and he’s leaking pre-cum, and he wants Shouyou _right now_ but even more than that… he wants to make sure he does this right. 

“Have you ever thought about it?” Hinata asks between kisses and Kageyama offers a silent little nod in reply. “I think about it a lot. And… I know you, Tobio, and I know that probably the only worry you’ve got in that brain of yours right now is that you could hurt me and you _won’t_. You just have to go--”

“Slowly,” Kageyama finishes for him, and then pulls a face. “That goes without saying, idiot.”

“Don’t be mean,” Shouyou says, a teasing sort of warning. “You’re gonna make me rethink this whole thing.” Never mind that he’s tugging at Tobio’s shirt, indicating in no uncertain terms that he wants it off, and Tobio is happy to oblige him, raising his arms (even though Shouyou’s too short to make much progress without perhaps jumping, so  
Tobio saves him the trouble and takes over at the place Shouyou starts to kind of strain to reach) so that his shirt can be removed. 

“Rethink, huh?” Kageyama casually asks as he rids Hinata of his shirt as well. Hinata’s still clutching the lubricant in his fingers and Kageyama gently takes it from him, leading him to stand closer to the bed as he tugs at the waistband of Hinata’s sweatpants. “Wouldn’t want you to think too much and hurt your brain.”

Hinata huffs and rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything. He makes no motion to stop what Kageyama’s in the process of doing, either.

Pants, followed by underwear, and then Shouyou is gloriously naked and Kageyama can’t help his hungry, roaming eyes. He thinks, fondly, that Shouyou will always be a tiny, fierce thing, all hard lean (distracting) muscle and knee-weakening sunshine smiles and bedroom eyes that make something inside of him fall wonderfully apart. His dick is flushed red at the head, pre-cum glistening there, leaking a trail down that Kageyama wouldn’t mind following with his mouth, and he kneels to do just that, making a sound as Shouyou’s fingers card gently through his hair and then tangle there, holding on. It’s only a few moments before Shouyou’s urging him to stop, to pull away. He obeys, albeit a little reluctantly, and looks up at Shouyou, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles over the skin covering his hipbones.

“I don’t want you to make me come yet,” Shouyou says, apparently feeling the need to explain why he’d signaled for Tobio to stop. “And you still have on too many clothes. Get back up here so we can get them off.”

Kageyama nods and presses a biting kiss to an inner thigh, making Hinata moan low and soft, before standing back up and helping Hinata divest him of the rest of his clothing. And then they’re falling onto the bed together and laughing because the landing is unnecessarily awkward and the lubricant goes flying for a second, but that’s okay because it lands on one of the pillows and then rolls back down onto the bed anyway. Hinata reaches for it between kisses and giggles and presses it back into Kageyama’s palm and then he lays back and just _looks_ up at Kageyama, and Kageyama looks right back, and he’s glad that he’s on the bed and not standing because the sultry, smoky look that Hinata is currently giving him is enough to make him weak-kneed all over again. 

He allows himself an appropriate amount of time to appreciate just how _hot_ that look is before he arranges their limbs so that he’s kneeling between Hinata’s spread thighs and he shoves a pillow underneath Hinata’s lower back to hopefully make the angle better. If it isn’t good, or comfortable, he’ll change things. He isn’t in a hurry.

Shouyou’s eyes stay on him, tracking his movements as he unscrews the cap of the could-have-been-lost-forever bottle and applies perhaps too much to his fingers, then he has an idea and sets the bottle aside, spreading the lube between both of his hands, letting them get slick as he allows time for the lube to grow warmer against his skin. 

There’s no apprehension in those warm brown eyes, just mingled curiosity and desire as Hinata draws his knees up a bit more, feet flat against the bed. He doesn’t ask anything even though Kageyama can tell that he wants to. 

He doesn’t keep him waiting long.

Kageyama curls the fingers of his left hand around Hinata’s cock and he strokes upward with a deliberate, teasing slowness. That’s when those eyes flutter shut and Hinata’s head tips back, mouth opening as a soft moan escapes him. The fingers of Kageyama’s right hand trail messily over Hinata’s sac and then dip further down, index finger coming to rest against the ring of muscle in the cleft of Hinata’s ass. He circles it slowly with that finger, and the motion is a question and not a demand.

Shouyou nods and groans on a downward stroke of Tobio’s hand, his eyes still closed, and Tobio dips his finger shallowly inside, just to the first knuckle. He feels heat and tightness, and feels more of that when he presses further in, to the second knuckle. Shouyou makes a keening moan as he begins to withdraw and then presses back in again, as far as he can. He thumbs the head of Shouyou’s cock and strokes him as he works his finger in and out, back and forth, until he notes that there’s less resistance, and then he adds his middle finger, sliding it in just as slowly, giving Shouyou time to adjust. He keeps stroking Shouyou’s dick, pausing to squeeze in all the right places that make his boyfriend whimper and arch into it, and the way Shouyou’s clenching around his fingers now makes him wonder what that’ll feel like around his aching cock and the force of his want makes him a little dizzy. 

Kageyama has to take a second to breathe, and he tries to remember the things he’s read about this, about how to get your partner good and ready for _this_ kind of sex, and then he crooks his fingers and then stretches them out again, pressing against and searching along an inner wall. He pushes upwards with a little more force, and he knows he’s found what he’s looking for because Hinata moans long and low and his hips jerk and the sound and the motion go straight to Kageyama’s cock. 

He does it again and he fists Hinata’s erection a little tighter, twisting his wrist. It earns him some very surprising and uncharacteristic cursing from Hinata. “ _Fuck_ ,” he moans, “It _does_ feel so much better when _you_ do that.”

There’s a heady rush of satisfaction at those words, and Tobio keeps sliding those fingers in and out, making sure to brush against that same spot with every plunge inside, and then he adds a third finger and by this point, Shouyou is writhing and arching up into his fist and then back down onto his fingers and Tobio thinks, _beautiful_. Tobio thinks, _erotic_ ; Tobio thinks, _mine_.

That last thought works its way from his mind to his vocal cords and slips past his lips as he leans down, removing his hand from Shouyou’s length and using it to prop himself up as he presses an open-mouthed kiss to Shouyou’s neck. That head tips back further, granting him access to more skin, which he greedily takes advantage of.

“ _Mine_ ,” he growls as he scissors his fingers inside of Hinata and then purposefully, just barely, grazes his prostate, making him whine and pant and arch and shudder beneath him. 

“ _Yours_ ,” Hinata agrees, no argument and no teasing, just a simple understanding and acceptance and verification, which Kageyama is grateful for, and he rewards it with a firmer touch this time, which leads to another “ _Fuuuuuck_ ,” from Hinata, longer and louder this time. He sounds almost like he’s _hurting_ , and it makes light of the phrase, _hurts so good_. 

“Good?” Tobio asks as he thrusts those three fingers in and out, harder, faster now. Hinata’s mouth is open and he’s panting and nodding frantically, and Tobio kisses him, breathes, “You want me to make you come like this?” 

A pause, and then a slow shake of Shouyou’s head. “Need _you_ ,” he gasps, and then, “ _now_ ,” and Kageyama doesn’t have to be told twice. 

He’s careful when he withdraws his fingers, and then he’s kissing Hinata again, and it’s quick but full of feeling. He reaches for the lube again, and it proves to be a little more of a challenge given that his hands are already slick with it, but he manages. It’s cool against the hot skin of his dick and he strokes himself once, twice, spreading the lubricant out and over himself, using perhaps a little more than is necessary, but he’d rather be cautious than reckless.

Kageyama repositions himself between Hinata’s thighs, guiding and lining himself up with his left hand while he grasps Hinata’s hip with his right. He takes a breath and he eases into Hinata slowly, gently, watching Hinata’s face the whole time for any signs of pain or discomfort. There’s a slight wince once Kageyama is fully seated inside of him, and here he pauses, because he figures it might take a little more time to adjust to _this_ , and it’s a fucking _struggle_ to remain motionless when his body demands that he move, because Hinata is hot and tight and it’s funny how everything they do together is even better than he’s ever imagined. He _wants_ to move, to shove, to thrust, but he doesn’t. He stays perfectly still, until Hinata’s legs slide around him and pull him in close.

“I’m okay,” Shouyou assures him, voice soft, eyes intense. “Move.”

Tobio does. Slow at first, experimental, the push of his hips gradually becoming measured and deep. “You feel good,” he can’t help but groan into the hot, thick air around them.

Hinata’s breath catches and Kageyama doesn’t know if it’s because of his words or because of his next, firmer, thrust. “You too,” he replies, and they stop talking with their words and start talking with their bodies after that.

They find a rhythm and it’s a slick push and pull of hips, of hands, of shoulders. Shouyou’s blunt nails are digging into his back and raking down, and mingled pain and pleasure spiral though Kageyama’s body, urging him to pick up the pace. There’s a familiar tension building in his belly and it’s _more_ than it has been, more intimate, more _everything_ , and he knows he won’t last long.

Everything’s giving way, becoming nothing more and nothing less than the movement of their bodies, together, and it’s a frantic, beautiful thing. Kageyama’s self-control is at present nearly non-existent, and it doesn’t seem to matter because Hinata’s encouraging him, urging him, giving and _taking_ too, and it’s achingly good, so _good_.

He’s cognizant enough (though just barely) to change the position of his hands. He shifts the weight of his upper body to his left hand, which is braced against the mattress, and he moves his right hand from Shouyou’s hip, slipping it between their bodies so he can _touch_ Shouyou too, to pleasure him externally as well as internally. The instant his fingers close around him, Shouyou cries out and shoves his hips up, and Tobio begins tugging his cock in time with his thrusts and it’s _beyond_ amazing; there’s no sort of description that will do it justice, the way Shouyou tightens around him when he grazes his prostate, the sounds he makes as Tobio’s fingers stroke and squeeze him.

Everything with Hinata is always completely unlike anything Kageyama has ever experienced. _Everything_.

He makes sure he angles his hips and thrusts right where Hinata needs; he makes sure he’s rubbing against all those sensitive spots at the underside of Hinata’s dick, and Hinata manages a strangled, “Close, Tobio,” which is encouragement enough to make Kageyama move faster, still.

The motions are frantic, now, frantic and needy and Kageyama’s close, too, insomuch that he thinks he might come at the same time as Hinata.

He almost does. Shouyou comes first, moaning and shaking, his cock throbbing in Tobio’s hand with its release, and Tobio himself slides right over the edge shortly after, Shouyou clenching rhythmically, _deliciously_ around him and milking him, and Tobio keeps moving until he _can’t_ anymore, shuddering ecstasy edging into overstimulation.

Kageyama keeps himself from flopping down onto Hinata, but just barely. He hunches over him instead, leaning in so that their foreheads touch. “Wow,” he manages after a few seconds of attempting to catch his breath.

Hinata clears his throat and giggles before exclaiming, “Tobio, that was _gwaaaaahhh_ , perfect.”

“Dumbass,” Kageyama says, though fondly, and he kisses Hinata softly.

Perfect. Yes.

What isn’t perfect is the mess they make of the sheets when Kageyama finally moves to slide his softening cock out of Hinata. He should have expected it, he supposes. He’ll wash and change the sheets later. Right now, though, he’s more concerned with getting clean, himself. 

They eventually manage to wobble to the bathroom and they shower together, and not without Tobio asking Shouyou no less than eight times if he’s sure he’s okay. 

“Give me a little bit, and I’ll _show_ you how okay I am,” Hinata eventually retorts, and well, that more or less shuts Kageyama up while simultaneously making his dick give a little twitch. 

Shower finished, they towel themselves dry and Kageyama heads to the kitchen for water. He grabs a bottle for himself and a bottle for Hinata from the fridge and then he goes back to the bedroom. They pull on their underwear and nothing else (it’s warm enough in the house, and even if it weren’t, Hinata’s like a tiny, living furnace) and curl up together on the bed to watch a livestream of the New Year’s Eve countdown because they’re honestly too lazy to go back to the couch and watch it on the television. They drink their water and they hold each other and they wait for a new year to arrive.

“Happy New Year, Tobio!” Hinata excitedly proclaims once the counter has reached zero. He’s paying absolutely no attention to the fireworks display on the screen, but then again, neither is Kageyama. He’s a little too distracted by the way Hinata’s lips are moving against his own, the kiss unhurried and thorough.

Kageyama has every intention of returning the sentiment. However, when Hinata pulls back, Kageyama just looks at him for a second, the words _Happy New Year_ right there on the tip of his tongue. But when he opens his mouth, what he blurts instead is, “I love you,” and everything gets quiet; he can’t hear the celebration on his laptop anymore. He can only hear how he’s holding his breath and how his heart is pounding. As the silence stretches out, he contemplates biking up the mountain just so he can throw himself off of it. He wasn’t supposed to say _that_! What the _hell_.

Shouyou’s eyes grow wide and then soft, and he whispers, “I love you too,” and Kageyama feels a great deal less like diving off of the mountain and he releases the breath he’d been holding.

“It’s not that I’m just now realizing it,” he rushes to explain, “I just--”

“I _know_ , Kageyama,” Hinata gently interrupts. “I know. You’ve been saying it, without saying it, all this time, you know?”

Tobio thinks of Hinata’s sweet smiles. He thinks of the way Hinata holds his hand. He thinks of the way Hinata trusts him and the way he always asks him if he’s had breakfast yet every morning, and the way he kisses him and touches him and moves against him. He thinks of the way Hinata looks just after he’s spiked Kageyama’s toss. He thinks of the  
way Hinata tells him goodnight and good morning and the way he still races him even though neither of them are keeping score anymore. Of course, Hinata’s been letting him know, the words hidden in plain sight amongst all the little things he’s done and said. 

They kiss again. And again. Hinata melts against him and then they’re out of their underwear once more and yeah, Hinata is showing him just how _okay_ he really is.

Later, while they’re still tangled together, Kageyama asks, “I said it first. Does that mean I win?”

He gets a pillow thrown at his face for his efforts.

“It doesn’t work that way, dummy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a wild party, huh? ^_~


	10. Winter (January)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _There are fingers combing through Kageyama’s hair and there’s Natsu’s soft, innocent voice asking if Kageyama’s going to marry her big brother. This prompts awkward laughter and complete avoidance of answering the question altogether._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, they can't help how friggin' cute they are. :D

The first sunrise of the new year is beautiful. They watch it together, still sleepy, and then Hinata drags himself to his bike, giving Kageyama a lingering kiss before pedaling away. Kageyama misses him immediately, watches him until he disappears from sight. Then he changes his bedsheets, chunking the dirty ones in the washing machine along with the washing powders. He turns the washing machine on and hopes that his parents (who have apparently made it home at this point but aren’t yet among the land of the conscious) won’t freak out and wonder if there is something horribly wrong with him if they happen to wake up before the washing machine has finished its cycle.

He has cereal for breakfast, checks his phone and smiles when he sees that Hinata’s made it home safely. He dozes on the couch and he swaps his sheets from the washing machine to the dryer when he’s startled awake by the sound of his parents’ bedroom door opening. 

His mother makes coffee and joins him in the living room, sparing a glance in the direction of the laundry room and raising an eyebrow at him. “You’re doing laundry?” she asks. “Has hell frozen over?”

Kageyama makes a face and buries his face in one of the pillows, but draws his feet up close to himself so that his mom will have enough room to sit down. “No, mom, hell has not frozen over. Where’s dad?”

“Still sleeping,” she murmurs as she takes a sip of her coffee. “Although I’m sure the smell of the coffee will wake him up soon enough.” And then, she casually asks, “Where’s Shouyou?”

Tobio’s eyes widen and he swallows hard, fidgeting with the pillow that he wishes he could somehow hide under. Seeing no point in lying, he responds, “He went home.”

“Wild party?”

“If you can call Disney movies wild.” Kageyama points to the DVD player and his mother laughs. “There was some popcorn-throwing, but we cleaned that up.”

“Good.” She lightly pats his leg. “You know how your dad gets about messes in here.”

“I know,” he groans. “It’s kind of scary.”

“A little,” his mother agrees. 

The silence that follows isn’t strange or uncomfortable. Tobio’s close to falling asleep once more when she speaks again: “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” he replies, and then asks a question of his own: “How was your party last night? Wild?”

She yawns and then resumes nursing her coffee. “Your dad and I are getting too old for ‘wild’ but we did have a good time.”

His father’s voice floats to them from somewhere down the hall. “We aren’t getting too old for anything.” He sounds like he’s still half-asleep. Kageyama supposes that makes three of them. He wonders, almost idly, if Hinata’s gone to bed to take a nap. He wouldn’t blame him; they hadn’t slept much, after all.

Aaaaaaand remembering the particulars of their evening isn’t a good thing to do while in the presence of his parents, so he immediately puts on the brakes on his train of thought and vows to text Shouyou in a few hours; he’ll save basking in last night’s memories for later, while he’s in the privacy of his bedroom once more.

“Are you doing laundry, son?” His father’s pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

“Yes.” Tobio’s ears are burning.

“Has hell frozen over?” are the next words out of his mouth, and Kageyama’s mom giggles.

“That’s exactly what _I_ said!”

He can see why his ridiculous(ly wonderful) boyfriend gets along with them so well. 

Days later, when they’re are competing in the Spring High tournament, he remembers that silly, mid-morning conversation with his parents. He thinks of it instead of the fact that things are going to be changing majorly for their team in just a few short months. It’s easier to focus on what’s happened already than it is to linger on the truth of what _will_.

The win is a bittersweet moment, because after this, nothing for Karasuno will be quite the same. Nishinoya receives an award for best libero, which comes as no surprise to any of them, really. They cheer and they all tackle and hug each other (even the confused and perhaps somewhat frightened first-year team members are roped in) and they try not to cry and most of them fail spectacularly, Kageyama included.

They have a celebratory dinner afterwards. There’s more yelling, more excitement, more fist-bumps and nudges and smiles and yes, more tears.

“You’re all gonna be okay without us,” Tanaka says, and for once, he looks neither menacing nor silly but almost… plaintive, even though his words are no doubt meant to be a reassurance. 

“We will,” Yachi softly agrees, and she’s looking at her hands, the table, her plate of food, anything but their eyes. Her voice is wobbly. “But it doesn’t mean we won’t miss all of you.”

It’s strange how two years ago, something like this wouldn’t have affected him in the slightest. Presently, Tobio has to keep clearing his throat and looking away and rapidly blinking. His eyes sting. This is a monumental victory and the beginning of a colossal loss, all wrapped in one messy little package.

His hand finds Shouyou’s under the table; the brief squeeze Shouyou gives him before lacing their fingers together speaks volumes and calms his nerves.

The contact grounds him, keeps him from thinking too much about how things might be when this school year ends and the next begins. Instead, he thinks of how he doesn’t want to let go of Hinata’s hand.

(And that thought is just a bit terrifying, too.)

~*~

The days trip over themselves; they melt and blend together. Schoolwork followed by practice (which is a little different now that the Spring High tournament has ended), followed by walks home, which always include laughter, even if it’s just the two of them (which, eventually, it always is). There are kisses that linger, hands that are reluctant to let go. There are text messages and phone calls and Saturday date nights that end with them in a fort made of pillows and blankets (for Natsu, of course). There are fingers combing through Kageyama’s hair and there’s Natsu’s soft, innocent voice asking if Kageyama’s going to marry her big brother. This prompts awkward laughter and complete avoidance of answering the question altogether.

“It’s your bedtime, sweet girl,” Mrs. Hinata calls out, and Natsu hugs both of them goodnight before exiting their fort.

“You’d be a horrible husband,” Hinata informs, all matter-of-fact. Kageyama considers hitting him, but Hinata’s fingers feel really good against his scalp, so he keeps still and just makes a noncommittal noise.

“… Why?” he eventually asks when Shouyou doesn’t bother to elaborate further.

“All you would care to do is play volleyball. And maybe have sex.” There’s no seriousness in his voice, just a teasing lilt in his tone, but Tobio finds himself blushing all the same.

“Like you’d be any better,” Kageyama replies, and he’s not serious either but he feels the need to argue just because this is how they’ve always worked. There is a comfort in familiarity. “Except you’d also want pork buns and probably chocolate cake for every meal ever.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Shouyou says, and it sounds incredibly ridiculous and incredibly like them and maybe it _is_ a good plan. Volleyball and sex and food and Hinata, Hinata, _Hinata_.

He knows it’s all in jest, knows that they are too young to even joke about shit like this. But it’s a thought that’s still rolling around in his head when he makes it home that evening.

“I’m home,” he says over the phone, once he’s settled in bed.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,” Hinata says conversationally.

Tobio’s warm and sleepy and Shouyou’s voice sounds nice even though he has no idea what he’s referring to. “What wouldn’t?”

“You know. Being married to you.”

Kageyama blinks slowly, awareness creeping into the edges of his consciousness. He does and does not want to reply; he does and does not want to call his boyfriend completely silly. He does and does not want to respond in much the same manner.

He doesn’t say anything, but he listens as Hinata continues: “We’d have to live together for at least five years first, though. Give it a trial run. See if we succeed in not tearing the place apart or burning it down. Plus we have to make sure we won’t kill each other.”

His lips quirk and Tobio doesn’t fight the silly, stupid, lazy smile. “Go to sleep, dumbass,” he tells Shouyou. “You sound ridiculous.”

“So you think we’d kill each other, huh?” Hinata’s tone is playful, light, amused. Non-accusatory.

“We might,” Kageyama muses, even though he knows (he’s pretty sure, anyway) that they wouldn’t. They might _want_ to at some point, but.

“You’d chop me up and hide me under the floorboards,” Hinata exclaims in mock-horror. “Then who would spike your tosses at one in the morning?”

There’s a short story Tobio thinks he read some time ago which revolves around a man who’d done that very act, and it hadn’t ended well for him.

“I’d be smarter than that,” he reassures Hinata. “I’d let something eat you. Destroy the evidence, and all. But you have a good point… I don’t know of anyone who would do that with me at one in the morning except you. So maybe I would let you live.”

“Good call. So maybe we’d make it work, after all.” Shouyou sounds sleepy, too. And sappy. And… happy, all soft and simmering, bubbling excitement.

“Let’s just make it through high school first,” Kageyama suggests, sounding reasonable and feeling perhaps everything _but_. “Go to sleep, Shou.”

Hinata hums in what Tobio supposes is agreement, and makes another noise—a not-quite groan. Tobio thinks he must be stretching. “Goodnight then, Tobio.”

“Goodnight,” Kageyama softly answers. He’s still holding the phone in his hand several seconds after their conversation has ended.

He has never wanted time to simultaneously slow down and accelerate all at once. It’s impossible, he knows. Impossible to have either. Certainly impossible to obtain both.

Impossible.

(That doesn’t stop him from wanting it, all the same.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but hopefully cute and meaningful. I hope you all enjoyed! ^_^


	11. Winter (February)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He’s not gonna try to make chocolates._
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _He’s **not**._
> 
>  
> 
> _(He attempts, once. They’re too bitter so he scraps them.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruined chocolates, volleyball practice, Bottom!Tobio, couch snuggles, and early-morning (or late night) conversations. 
> 
> These boys are beyond precious, you guys.

Kageyama realizes (or maybe _remembers_ is more the proper term, here) a little after February begins that he really doesn’t know much at all about Valentine’s Day. He knows the basics, of course. Knows that this is the day of the year that the girls flock to the boys with home-made gifts and sweet, shy declarations of their feelings. He knows that his mother takes his father out to his favorite restaurant, without fail, the night of Valentine’s Day. He knows that it’s an overly-commercialized, ridiculous, unnecessary, sappy waste of a perfectly normal day and it’s a poor excuse for girls to practice their baking skills. He knows it’s not a day he’s ever particularly taken much notice of, nor has he ever cared to attempt to change his perception of it.

He’s also never dated anyone before, or thought about dating anyone before, until Hinata Shouyou – his best friend – apparently made this unconscious decision to change all of this for him, and even though Tobio still thinks Valentine’s Day is stupid and that probably won’t ever change, he figures that maybe there’s something about it that might be a little worthwhile if you’ve got someone who cares to celebrate it with you. He never thought he’d have that. He never thought he’d wanted to. But now here he is, seven months into dating Hinata, and he’s trying to figure out what in the hell they should do for Valentine’s Day. He wonders if it even matters. He wonders what they could do differently, that they don’t already do in the first place. He’s not gonna try to make chocolates.

He’s _not_.

(He attempts, once. They’re too bitter so he scraps them.)

“So what’s the protocol if two guys are dating?” Tanaka asks, and it’s the week before Valentine’s Day. He’s looking pretty pointedly at Kageyama and Hinata, and then at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and then it’s some weird back-and-forth with his eyes that makes Kageyama think of a couple of volleyballs flying over the net, again and again. 

There’s an awkward silence in which nobody seems to be able to properly answer the question—most likely because none of them have ever actually given it any real thought. 

“I mean,” Tanaka continues, grinning that Cheshire grin of his, “at least you don’t have to worry about White Day, right? So it’s easy and convenient to just deal with it all in one day.” He pauses, seems to actually consider it for a moment. “At least, I would think so.” 

“I haven’t thought about it much,” Hinata admits eventually, shrugging before taking a bite of his burger. “But I mean, we’ll figure it out.” He nudges Kageyama. “I don’t need homemade sweets or cards full of declarations of sweet nothings. Just toss to me the entirety of practice that day and I’ll be happy.”

Tobio omits any sort of hint that he’d attempted to experiment with making chocolate a few days ago, because he doesn’t need to give his boyfriend anything else to tease him about, even though he’s about eighty-six percent sure that Hinata wouldn’t laugh and would just find it to be a thoughtful and yet unnecessary gesture. 

(There is also the possibility that he could congratulate him on not burning the too-bitter chocolate to the point of them looking like lumps of melted, unrecognizable objects. Tobio decides it’s best not to risk it, because even if Hinata doesn’t say anything about it, he’s pretty sure if Tsukishima caught wind of said experiment, he wouldn’t shut up laughing about it for half a second.)

“He can’t toss exclusively to you all practice,” Ennoshita tells Shouyou, and well, so much for that. Of course, he’s being practical. Of _course_ Kageyama can’t toss to _just_ Shouyou at regular practices. Ennoshita’s voice is kind but firm (he doesn’t have it in him to yell like Daichi, even though he is more than capable of shooting a glare that is every bit as menacing as Daichi’s booming voice, when he’s pushed to it. Particularly when the first-year kids aren’t paying attention, or when the rest of them are just being too rowdy in general). He’s smiling a little, probably thinking that Kageyama and Shouyou are more or less sickeningly, pathetically cute; if he is indeed thinking such a thing, it’s… not inaccurate, Kageyama supposes.

“I’ll toss to you for ten minutes straight before practice starts,” Tobio promises in a stage-whisper and Hinata grins, apparently satisfied with that.

Kageyama makes good on his promise come Valentine’s Day, and they even do really well during regular practice with a new quick they’ve been working on. It’s… exhilarating, watching Hinata excitedly spike every toss that Kageyama sends his way. It doesn’t get old, seeing all the emotions written clearly on Hinata’s face, how he cycles from eager to triumphant to grateful, and it’s all so seamless and wonderful and it is quite literally a kind of gift which keeps on giving of itself. He’s happy with this, alone, for Valentine’s Day. He doesn’t need anything extra.

Almost everyone lingers behind after practice to shower, including Tobio and Shouyou. However, none of the others offer to walk home with them; none of the others attempt to fall into step with them as they make their way to their bikes.

“Are you gonna tell me why you told me to bring my bike today?” Kageyama asks, and Hinata just grins at him and doesn’t answer, and the quiet is an answer in and of itself. 

They start walking, bikes in tow, but they don’t head for Tobio’s house. Having absolutely no idea what’s going on and yet also knowing that Shouyou won’t answer him anyway if he chooses to question him further, Tobio just follows, realizing along the way where they’re heading; it’s a path they’ve taken several times before in the past, a path that will no doubt be well-worn by the end of their third year. 

They come to a stop in front of a little restaurant that they frequent; not the one with the good pizza (which is the one they always meet up at for their team get-togethers) but the one with the good udon. Hinata insists upon paying after, and Kageyama argues with him briefly, but loses, mostly because Hinata sneaks away from him and takes care of the bill while he’s looking away for one second just so he can take one last sip of his drink. 

“I wanted you to come to my house,” Shouyou eventually tells him once they’ve made their way back outside. “My parents are out on a date, and they probably won’t be back until eleven or later. They dropped Natsu off at the babysitter’s since I told them you and I had plans, too. Not that… we really do, I guess, but I wanted to spend some time with you. That’s why I told you to bring your bike.”

It makes sense now. He doesn’t exactly enjoy biking like Hinata does (he’d rather run, honestly) but he isn’t about to complain, especially if all of this is being done just so they get more time together. 

Shouyou somehow has the breath to cycle _and_ chatter the entire way to his house, and Kageyama’s no longer surprised by it at this point. The air is still plenty chilly but the exertion makes him sweat all the same, and he feels like he needs a second shower by the time Shouyou unlocks the front door and ushers him inside.

“Shower?” he finds himself suggesting out loud as they kick off their shoes, and Hinata nods. The house is empty except for them and everything seems to echo, even though Tobio’s pretty sure it’s all in his head. 

Kageyama gets sidetracked while in the process of ridding himself of his own clothing and decides to fixate on Hinata undressing instead, on the way his head tips back as he removes his shirt, the way his back arches, the way he bends down as he removes his pants and underwear. He looks good, as he always does, and Kageyama’s pretty sure no-one could blame him for getting distracted, but he’d sure as hell punch anyone for trying to justify the obvious reasons (because _mine_ ).

Shouyou turns to look at him, a slow smile forming on his lips. “Do you need some help, Nosey-yama?”

Pants and underwear halfway down his legs, Tobio scowls and pushes them off the rest of the way, stepping out of them. “Not nosey,” he argues as he steps past Hinata, turning the shower on. “Was just admiring the view, that’s all.”

“I’m sure you’ll understand if I do that too,” Shouyou drawls, and Kageyama enters the shower, looking back over his shoulder at Shouyou who is watching him intently, eyes dark.

Kageyama licks his lips, turning his attention to the spray of water and positioning himself under it. The water is warm and it feels good as it flows down his body. However, the water doesn’t warm him in the same way Hinata’s words do, and it doesn’t feel nearly as good as Hinata’s hands and mouth do as they trail over his skin moments later.

They touch and they tease, and they’re both a different sort of mess as they exit the shower several minutes later, drying off quickly and grabbing their discarded clothing, only to deposit it all in a heap on the floor of Shouyou’s bedroom the instant that they reach it. 

“We’ve got time,” Hinata breathes against Kageyama’s lips and Kageyama nods a little before biting and tugging lightly at Hinata’s bottom lip, which earns him a little groan and a light, teasing brush of Hinata’s fingers over the head of his dick. 

Tobio yields easily to the tongue that demands an in, parting his lips, heat coiling and clenching tight and low in his abdomen as their tongues press and glide slickly against and over each other. He loves kissing Shouyou, loves touching him, loves being touched by him. He loves the noises Shouyou makes, loves the way he quivers as he comes apart, undone; he loves the way Shouyou makes his body thrum with a rush of desire.

Hinata’s gently urging him towards the bed while continuing to kiss him perfectly senseless. Their lips part only long enough for Kageyama to sit down and Hinata to follow, straddling his lap and rolling his hips in a way that makes Kageyama’s eyes slam shut and makes his head fall back. He moans unrestrainedly and then Hinata’s mouth is on his again and he’s swallowing the sounds that Kageyama makes as he keeps rolling his hips and it’s delicious and it’s wonderful and Kageyama can’t help but reach down and cup Hinata’s ass, pulling him in as close as he can and moving with him, increasing the friction, the heat, amplifying it all.

“More,” Tobio demands, pleads, and Shouyou laughs huskily and nods, wrapping a hand around the both of them, stroking them together for only a moment before he’s moving off of Tobio’s lap and reaching for the nightstand, where he keeps the lubricant.

“How do you want me?” Hinata asks him, and oh, the things that question does to Kageyama. His cock throbs and twitches and his breath stalls in his throat as he imagines Hinata beneath him, moving against him, but then he imagines Hinata _above_ him, inside of him, and that’s where his mind lingers; that’s where his ache and his need lie, right here and now.

Kageyama repositions himself, scooting back and gazing up at Hinata through lowered lashes. “In me,” he answers, and he watches as Hinata processes those words; initially he seems to be wondering if he’s misheard, but then something apparently clicks into place and that gaze becomes even more heated.

“ _Tobio_ ,” Shouyou rasps, all sweetness and desire, making Tobio’s skin tingle. Before Tobio can contemplate how hot _that_ is, however, Shouyou’s kissing him again, deep and thorough, and then wetly whispering, “You’re sure?”

“More than,” Kageyama answers, shifting against Hinata, giving him room to move more freely between his legs. “I’ve been thinking about it since… well, for a while. Since before we… But I’ve wanted it more, since then.”

“I’ll be careful,” Hinata promises, and it isn’t necessary for him to say because Kageyama already _knows_ but he appreciates the effort. He’s not nervous, exactly, not worried that there will be any pain. He _knows_ Hinata will make it good, knows that they’ll figure it out together just like they have everything else so far. 

His fingers shake only the tiniest bit as he reaches out to stroke Shouyou’s cheek. “I know,” he murmurs, and then he’s watching as Shouyou unscrews the cap, watching as Shouyou deposits a decent amount of lube onto his palm, spreading it to his fingers, making them shine slickly in the low light of the bedroom.

Hinata kisses him everywhere his lips can reach—his thighs, his knees, his lower abdomen (which clenches beneath his mouth)—as his slippery index finger prods and presses at Tobio’s hole, massaging lightly before dipping slowly, carefully inside.

Tobio sucks in a breath. Unlike Shouyou, he hasn’t experimented with fingering himself, so even though the idea of this isn’t new at all, the sensation is. It isn’t unpleasant and it doesn’t hurt, but it’s unfamiliar and it’s something he has to adjust to, this little fantasy that’s becoming a reality, here and now.

Hinata takes his time, pushing that single finger in and out, circling and pressing the tip of it along the inner walls, which makes Kageyama groan. It’s… intense and it’s erotic and it’s starting to feel less strange by the moment. The more Hinata experiments, the better it starts to feel.

Two fingers, and it’s more of a stretch, but still not bad at all, even when Hinata starts to scissor them and work them in and out a little faster, a little harder. More pressure inside, where Hinata’s fingers are stroking, and more pressure gathering slowly in Kageyama’s abdomen, and then there’s a rush of it as those wandering fingers press firmly up and in, and Kageyama can’t help the startled cry that escapes his throat as a wave of pleasure shakes and shudders through him, catching him completely off-guard.

When he manages to open his eyes a few seconds later, Shouyou is smiling at him. He draws those fingers back, again almost all the way out, and plunges in once more, brushing against that spot for a second time—the one that makes little sparks dance behind Tobio’s closed eyelids and sends heat lancing through him, white-hot and almost too much and yet somehow he wants _more_.

“You okay?” Hinata asks, and Kageyama feels more lubricant, feels a third finger pressing in to join the other two, and it stretches him a little further, more when Hinata spreads those fingers apart inside of him; again, it isn’t unpleasant, and it’s getting better, starting to feel _really_ good, and it’s even better when Hinata rubs against his prostate again, making him whimper and moan and arch up off the bed.

Well, Kageyama supposes that should be enough of an answer. Yes, he’s okay. He manages a little nod just in case his body’s actions aren’t enough of an indication of just how okay he is. 

“You tighten around my fingers every time I touch you here,” Shouyou says, and his fingers curl and press and flex and rub and Tobio’s making these filthy, helpless little noises that Shouyou seems to be thoroughly enjoying, which is all well and good because Tobio can’t seem to keep himself from doing it.

“Is it—when I—for you?” He’s babbling and making little to no sense whatsoever. He’s well aware of this. 

“Mmhmm,” Hinata replies, and now he’s slowing it down some, and Kageyama doesn’t know if he’s more disappointed or relieved. “You make me feel like I could come just from touching me here.” Another deliberate brush of those fingers has Kageyama’s hips rolling, lips parting on a guttural moan and Hinata echoes the sound, gaze growing somehow darker, impossibly more heated. “I love the way you clench around my fingers like this.”

Tobio can certainly appreciate the sentiment, because he also loves the way Shouyou clenches around his fingers _and_ around his cock. He thinks of how it’ll feel when Shouyou gets to experience that shortly, Tobio enveloping and squeezing him as he thrusts inside; he wants that, _needs_ that, opens his lips to convey that, but those fingers wriggle again and all he manages is a wail.

“Tobio,” Hinata husks, and then he’s leaning down, licking a hot, wet stripe from the base of his cock to the tip of it, tongue teasing briefly at the slit, fingers still buried inside of them as deep as they can get. “Wanna make you come.”

Kageyama can’t find his voice for a moment. Seeing Hinata between his legs, breathing in his scent, knowing where his fingers are, feeling his breath against the head of his erection… all of it, the stimulation to and assault on so many of his senses… it’s almost too much.

He finally manages words but they come out all throaty and low and they don’t sound quite as teasingly challenging as he means for them to. “So make me.” He watches, hears as Shouyou’s breath catches, and adds, “Want to feel you.”

Hinata’s next exhale is shaky, affected. His eyes are hooded. His pink tongue darts out to trace over his lips, and then he presses his mouth almost reverently to one of Kageyama’s hips. He’s very careful as he withdraws his fingers, and Kageyama’s response to that action is a soft groan; he doesn’t know how it’s possible to feel frustration and anticipation so perfectly mingled as they are in this moment, but both are there, writhing alongside visceral need. 

Hinata doesn’t give him time to process anything else; his hands are on him in the next instant, helping him to reposition. He ends up on his forearms and knees, waiting, listening.

He doesn’t have to wait for long.

He feels a hand on his hip, not exerting pressure but promising it, and that, coupled with the anticipation of what he knows is about to happen, is enough to make him shudder.

“You’re okay?” Hinata asks, and he’s perfectly still, the slick head of his dick pressed against him, so close, close enough to make Tobio _ache_.

“Yes,” Kageyama replies, no hesitation, and he pushes back just a little with his hips, hoping that Hinata will _know_ , and go ahead. 

He does. The slide in slow, tender, and there’s a bit of a sting that comes with the stretch—a pressure, a not-quite discomfort. A strangely sweet burn that isn’t bad at all, especially with the recent pleasure Hinata’s fingers had given him still fresh in his muscle memory. 

There’s another pause once Hinata is fully inside of him, hips snug against his body, lips trailing sloppy kisses along the skin of his back, making Tobio’s lashes flutter.

“Still okay?” Hinata is unmoving again save for his hands, both of which are on Kageyama’s hips now, and his fingers are caressing him in slow circles.

“I’ll be better when you move,” Tobio grits out, and he means it; he feels that he needs the motion, needs to feel the push, the flex, needs to know what it feels like to have Shouyou come inside of him, and he needs it _now_. He appreciates Shouyou’s careful concern, loves him all the more for it, but he’s more than okay right now—he feels good and he wants to feel better. Wants Shouyou to feel better, too.

The withdrawal is just as achingly slow as the initial press inside, but it’s movement instead of stillness, and oh, Kageyama feels everything, and is pretty certain that that is Hinata’s intention, anyway.

Hinata pulls back until the head of his cock tugs at Tobio’s rim, and then he’s pushing forward again, firmer, quicker, less hesitant and less cautious but still controlled. 

Hinata’s fingers are lightly squeezing Tobio’s hips and he experiments with his thrusts, breath leaving him in quiet little huffs. Tobio’s own breathing is becoming louder, faster, and he’s aware that he’s moaning and making these shameless, desperate little noises which he doesn’t bother to try to muffle because they’re alone right now and because he’s learned by now that Hinata likes the sounds he makes.

“Feels good,” he hears Shouyou murmur. “You feel so good, Tobio.” There’s an edge of desperation to his tone. The words sizzle down Tobio’s spine—they make him shiver and they make him throb and clench, and that makes Shouyou _wail_ , and Tobio would admittedly love to hear more of that.

“You too,” Kageyama groans, rocking back a fraction, and Hinata makes that sound again, thrusting in deeper, and Kageyama clutches the bedsheets in a white-knuckled grip.

Hinata’s starting to find a rhythm, unhurried but deep, and even with the lazy pace, Kageyama can feel that familiar tension building low in his abdomen. It’s almost-but-not-quite enough and he makes a choked sound, close to pleading when Hinata pauses yet again, all trembling, straining muscles and gentle petting hands.

“Mine.” It’s a low, dangerous-sounding whisper, and Tobio’s immediate reaction to it is to moan out an affirmative; he remembers New Year’s Eve, when he’d said it to Shouyou, remembers how Shouyou had responded and how that had served to turn him on even more, how it had made him realize just how tenuous his hold on self-control had been.

It’s much the same right now, only in a different light. Kageyama realizes, not for the first time, just how much this goes both ways. Knows that, just as Hinata is his, so too is he Hinata’s. He belongs to this impossible, amazing, sunshine-bright boy who makes his body shake and sing, makes his heart tremble and swell and spill over with things he’d never known he was capable of feeling.

He has never been good with words, ever, but he has no trouble at all admitting this particular truth, and so he says it over and over again as Shouyou’s hips roll, faster, harder, the hands over his own hips no longer gentle, nails biting, fingers digging into skin stretched over bone. Shouyou’s hands are giving him the pressure they’d promised earlier; they yank at him so that his spine bends a little differently, changing the angle, holding him in place as Shouyou shoves in again, hitting his prostate this time, making him quiver and curse.

He’s so focused on the feel of Hinata fucking him (and oh yes, this is what he needs and exactly how he needs it) that he releases a startled little moan when one of those hands leaves his hip to wrap around his erection and pump him in time with the near-frantic pace of Hinata’s hips.

All Kageyama can do is hold on, really. The pleasure is blindingly good at this point, and Hinata is groaning and panting and telling him that he’s close. Kageyama is too, but he doesn’t have the wherewithal at the moment to tell Hinata.

He doesn’t have to say anything though. Shouyou gets it—he keeps the pace fast and heavy as he tugs almost roughly at Tobio’s dick, and Tobio can feel how close Shouyou is to losing it, how close both of them are, and it’s justenoughjustenough _toomuch_ \--

He feels and hears Hinata’s shuddering release, feels him come hot and slick and deep inside, and that brings with it a satisfaction that Kageyama can’t explain. It’s Hinata’s orgasm that catapults him into his own and he cries out and he writhes and he comes, trapped between Hinata and the mattress, Hinata’s hand still moving on him, his arms wrapped around him and holding him as Kageyama’s orgasm shakes through him, leaving him spent and trembling.

His legs and forearms give out on him and he collapses, boneless and sated, making a soft noise as Shouyou slides out of him.

“You are so incredible,” Hinata is saying, lips pressing feather-light kisses to his upper back and shoulders. “That was….”

“Amazing,” Kageyama finally manages to say, and then, belatedly, “Sorry for the mess.”

Hinata’s answering chuckle is low and sexy. “I’m not sorry.”

Tobio wriggles a little. “Felt… really good.”

“Mmhmm.” More kisses, and then gentle nuzzles against the back of his neck. Time slows down to a crawl, congeals, holds them in this place full of quiet contemplation and loving caresses.

“I don’t wanna move,” Kageyama admits, even though he knows he has to. Somehow, he has to get his limbs working well enough to carry him to the shower again, and then to his bike, and then all the way back home.

(He hadn’t really thought this through.)

“Are you hurting at all? Sore?” Hinata sounds a little sheepish. “I might’ve lost it a little when we were—but that’s what you do to me, Tobio.”

The words are electric and make Tobio shiver even though he’s perfectly exhausted. “I’m not sore or anything. You were careful where it counted. And I wanted you to lose it like that.”

“I don’t want you to go home.” Shouyou leans down, trailing kisses all over Tobio’s cheeks. “Tomorrow’s Saturday. Ask your folks if you can stay tonight. I’ll call my mom and ask her. She’ll probably be okay with it but we’ll have to at least pretend that you’re gonna sleep on the futon.”

Kageyama thinks about it. He doesn’t want to go home either but he hadn’t anticipated spending the night. He hadn’t brought any extra clothes aside from the ones that became a bit sweaty during the bike ride over here. “I don’t think they’ll be very happy that we’re asking so late. And I don’t have extra clothes.”

“The worst they can do is say no,” Hinata says in a sing-song voice before depositing a quick kiss to the top of his head and leaving the bed, fishing around in Kageyama’s pants pockets, retrieving his cell phone and depositing it in his waiting palm. He then grabs his own phone and steps out into the hallway, presumably to call his mother, as he’d said. 

So, Tobio makes a phone call of his own. His mom isn’t exactly thrilled due to the late hour, but she doesn’t sound terribly surprised either. She tells him he’ll have a few extra chores to do tomorrow (he’s okay with that), tells him to behave, tells him to be safe tomorrow morning when he heads back. She tells him that she loves him.

As he ends the call, he thinks that he’s pretty sure his parents will take advantage of the extra alone time, and then he stops thinking about that right then because _gross_.

“My mom says it’s okay,” Kageyama calls, and realizes that he probably sounds like he’s fifteen again and staying over at Hinata’s place for the first time. 

They’ve come a long way since then.

Hinata re-emerges a moment later. “So we’ve got about twenty minutes before my parents get here with Natsu. Uhm. I called my mom but dad answered because she was driving. You can stay but….”

Tobio rolls over to face him, curious as to why his boyfriend’s words have suddenly dissolved into giggles. “But?”

“Dad says you have to sleep on the couch.” Shouyou’s face is contorted in some strange mixture of amusement, disappointment, and sympathy.

Tobio groans but doesn’t complain further in regards to that particular subject. “What am I gonna do about clothes?”

“We’ll worry about that in a minute.” Hinata waves off his concern and reaches for him, helping him off the bed and frowning a little, probably at the mess they’ve made of it. “We’ll toss your clothes in the laundry so they’ll be clean by tomorrow. But we gotta worry about _us_ first.”

They finish their third shower of the day and brush their teeth in record time (Hinata’s even bought him a spare toothbrush) before dealing with the no-extra-clothes situation. Hinata lends him a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that are too big for him but still too small for Kageyama. He manages. He probably looks ridiculous, but he can make do until morning.

They’re sitting on the couch together, pretending to watch a movie, when Shouyou’s parents make it home. Mrs. Hinata is carrying a sleeping Natsu in her arms, and she and her husband pause to smile warmly at Tobio and softly greet him before saying their goodnights to the two of them and heading off down the hallway.

Hinata has given him a soft pillow and a fluffy blanket. The couch isn’t so bad, Kageyama decides as he settles in and turns off the television. He and Hinata talk in hushed whispers, and he supposes this is the part where he should say goodnight, but he doesn’t want Hinata to get up and go to bed.

“Tobio,” Shouyou murmurs, and then he’s all but flopping down on top of him, making him grunt.

“You’re not going to bed are you.” It isn’t a question because Tobio already knows the answer. His heart is happy about this. The rest of his body isn’t exactly thrilled about it because it probably won’t be terribly comfortable, but….

“Of course I’m not,” Hinata scoffs. “Why would I do that when you’re in here?”

They wriggle around a bit so that Hinata can be under the blanket too, and they’re pressed together, close as can be, Hinata’s head on his chest, his bushy hair tickling his chin. Kageyama is content.

“Your parents are going to kill us,” Tobio warns belatedly just as he’s beginning to slip pinto sleep. The words are a tad slurred.

“Worth it,” Shouyou answers, and that makes Tobio smile.

He is startled awake the next morning by Natsu, who has come to watch cartoons, apparently. She joins them with a giddy, high-pitched laugh, clambering up to sit on top of Hinata’s back. Hinata grunts, and the added weight makes Kageyama’s bladder protest but he stays relatively still, blinking slowly in the morning light. 

Hinata’s definitely awake now, too. Kageyama can tell by his breathing.

“Good morning,” Tobio eventually, softly, says.

“Good morning,” is Shouyou’s equally-soft reply, and it’s followed by a gentle kiss to Tobio’s neck, which in turn makes Tobio shiver a little, pleased.

“Good morning,” Natsu also greets, though much louder and her words are followed by bubbly giggles. She wriggles a little, and both Hinata and Kageyama groan at the movement, the sweet girl laughing atop them gleefully oblivious to their discomfort. 

There’s more noise from elsewhere in the home, and the next thing Tobio knows, there’s Mrs. Hinata standing several feet away, gazing at the three of them and hiding her laughter behind her hand. 

She takes a picture of them using her cell phone. Declares she’s going to have it printed out and framed. Tobio wants to sink into the couch cushions and hide there for the rest of the month, at the bare minimum.

Hinata sends him the picture later. It’s ridiculous and it’s cute and Kageyama saves it, sets it as his lock screen, spends an unnecessary amount of time staring at it.

_You look happy even though I know you wanted to hide and we were both being squished and my mom thought it was funny,_ Shouyou’s text message reads.

_Dumbass_ , Tobio fires back, followed a beat later by, _I am_ , and then because he feels the need to clarify: _Happy_.

_I am, too._

It’s paradoxical, when it feels like you can’t possibly fall even _more_ in love with someone, and yet….

And yet.

~*~

Tobio is somehow hot and chilly at the same time, and he’s panting, still trying to catch his breath when he calls Hinata, who answers on the third ring. 

“Kageyama?” His voice sounds thick with sleep and Kageyama feels a little guilty for waking him up, even though he knows that Hinata doesn’t mind. It’s kind of their thing now, these impromptu phone calls that happen at any given hour, when both of them are awake, when one of them can’t sleep, when both of them are sleepy but fighting it like children, when they’re _needy_ and gasping. 

“I’m sorry for waking you,” he blurts, and it all comes out in a rush. He’s still huffing and puffing, and he wonders if he sounds a little scary like this, hopes he isn’t causing Shouyou any alarm.

“You’re all breathless,” Hinata observes, and he sounds quite a bit more awake now. “Tobio, were you getting off without me?”

Tobio suddenly feels much, much more hot than cold; there’s heat everywhere, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and he’s pretty sure his face just might be on fire. “No, dumbass, I wasn’t doing that!” 

“Mmmhmm.” His boyfriend doesn’t really sound terribly convinced. “Then why are you so breathless?”

“Because this goddamn mountain is no joke,” Kageyama exclaims in a huff. “I seriously _still_ don’t know how you do this every day for school, back and forth. I run, and this is worse.” He’s dismounted his bike at this point and is walking, which makes everything simultaneously better and worse. His lungs aren’t screaming at him so much anymore, but his legs are. Oh well. Kageyama is practically in Hinata’s backyard at this point, so it doesn’t really matter.

“It’s one in the morning, you dork," Shouyou chuckles fondly, and Tobio will be this ridiculously absurd at any point in time, ever, if it means that Shouyou will laugh like that, sounding half-sleepy and completely smitten, in his ear.

“It’s one in the morning, you dork,” Kageyama parrots in falsetto as he taps lightly on Hinata’s window.

“Hang on Tobio, there’s some creepy guy at my window,” Hinata says, but he’s grinning in the dim light of his room. “I’m afraid it might be a pervert or something.”

Tobio’s still speaking into the phone and at this point, he’s grinning, too. “Don’t let him kidnap you and do unspeakable things to your body.”

Hinata opens the window and leans out, still holding the phone between his shoulder and cheek. “I dunno. He’s pretty cute. Maybe if he makes it worth my while….” He trails off, still grinning as he ends the call and reaches for Tobio, sliding his arms around his neck and just _holding on_ for a moment. 

Tobio is more than content to simply let him, which he does, and they stand there for several breaths, not saying a word, just clinging to one another.

And then Shouyou clambers right on out of the window, his legs wrapping around Kageyama’s body as well, and he’s an idiot and Kageyama loves him anyway (loves him for _all_ of these things) even though he knows he looks silly standing there with both arms full of a squirming Shouyou, not that there’s anyone awake at this hour to actually _see_ them but still.

“So, what’re you doing here?” Hinata asks just as Kageyama is contemplating tickling him (he thinks better of it when he realizes that he would probably end up toppling over).

Tobio sets Hinata down, gently. Shrugs and gestures vaguely towards the volleyball in one corner of Hinata’s room. “Wanna play?”

(Because it’s one in the morning and because Hinata always tells him ‘yes’ and because this is what they do, and Kageyama loves it, never wants it to stop.)

It’s really too dark to practice, even with the added light from Shouyou’s back porch pooling around them, making everything within its circle glow an unnatural, soft yellow. They make do, sort of, Shouyou doubling over with suppressed laughter when he receives a serve because the ball goes flying into some bushes right after and Tobio goes diving for it, coming back up with leaves and twigs in his hair and the ball in his hands. 

“Maybe we should stop,” Kageyama suggests.

Hinata just smiles, and they keep going.

“Do you think we’ll still be doing this five years from now?” Shouyou eventually asks, and this gives Tobio pause.

“What? Are you asking if, five years from now, I’ll still be diving into the bushes to get the volleyball because your receives still suck?” He’s teasing, of course. Hinata really _has_ improved, by leaps and bounds. He then adds, “Probably.” And then: “I hope so. I want to be.”

Hinata’s close now, achingly so, the ball in his hands and his brown eyes soft with emotion, and it knocks the wind right out of Kageyama. “Me too,” he whispers, and his lips look like they need to be kissed.

Kageyama leans down, and proceeds to do just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is drawing to a conclusion. One chapter and an epilogue left, and we'll be done. I probably won't be able to post the next couple of weeks, as I will be working Monday through Thursday and then off on vacation (much needed) until the 11th or 12th of November. But we shall see. I hope you all are continuing to enjoy this!!!


	12. Winter to Spring (March)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I love **you**.” He’s beginning to suspect that he becomes stupidly sappy after sex._
> 
> _(But if he’s being honest, he’s always been stupidly sappy, _always_ , about Hinata.)_
> 
> _There is an undeniably happy sigh that makes Tobio tingle everywhere. “I love you, too.”_
> 
> _He supposes it’s a pretty damn good way to begin the month._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of March starts off well, and then Kageyama starts thinking and worrying a little too much. 
> 
> But of course, Hinata wouldn't be Hinata if he didn't drag him right out of it. :)

They’re down to their last month as second years, and it begins something like this:

“Are you awake?”

“No,” Kageyama replies, without missing a beat. “I’m sleep-talking.”

There’s a soft, short snicker. “You _do_ talk in your sleep sometimes, you know.”

Tobio scowls at the phone (scowls at _Shouyou_ , not that his boyfriend can see it or anything but he’s pretty sure it’s evident in his voice). “I do _not_.”

“You do,” Hinata insists. “It’s cute.”

Tobio’s blushing a little, now. “No it isn’t. And I _don’t_ , anyway.”

“Mmhmm.” Shouyou isn’t the least bit convinced—Kageyama can tell by his playful tone, but he drops it, and goes uncharacteristically silent for a few seconds. 

“Everything okay?” Kageyama has to ask, because it isn’t like Hinata to lose his voice, to let go of his words. At least, not while they’re on the phone like this. This is different; Hinata’s always the one driving the conversations, always the one finding words when Kageyama can’t (even if he’s just gasping them, telling Kageyama how _good_ he’s feeling, how badly he wishes Kageyama were there with him). 

“Yes,” Shouyou answers unhesitatingly, and Tobio releases a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, really. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to hear your voice. You know, like you wanna sometimes play volleyball at one in the morning. I just needed… to hear you. So talk to me.”

Tobio’s brows furrow. “About what?”

“Anything. Nothing. Everything.” Another pause. “Volleyball. School. Life. How you think Noya and Tanaka will survive university.”

Kageyama can’t help but laugh. “They won’t.” 

Although he supposes he and Hinata don’t have much room to talk.

He _does_ talk about volleyball. And class. And how his jog’s going to suck in the morning because he should be sleeping. Hinata grunts in response, sounding somewhat affronted, and it makes Kageyama smile. He doesn’t mind. He doesn’t mind talking, if that’s what Hinata needs. It’s a little weird, the sudden role-reversal, and he’s pretty sure he talks himself in circles, but Hinata doesn’t seem to mind, either (Hinata’s guilty of it anyway, after all). 

Tobio’s feeling and sounding a tad drowsy, words slowly leaving his lips in what might be a little bit of a jumble, when he hears rustling, and then Shouyou’s voice, a low, near-purr: “Keep talking to me, okay?”

“Well if you just wanted to do _that_ , you could’ve said so,” Kageyama teases, shifting and rearranging himself because even though some parts of him are sleepy, _one_ part of him at present most certainly _isn’t_. 

“I didn’t call for that,” Hinata replies, the words rolling slow and lazy off of his tongue, and they do something to Kageyama, make something clench low and deep. “I just wanted to hear your voice, honestly. Just wanted to hear you. Can’t help you sound sexy, and now I want to _hear_ you.”

No problems there. The noise that Tobio makes in response rises from his throat, and it’s a helpless, needy, wanting moan. “D-don’t say stuff like that,” he stammers, even though he fucking _loves_ it when Shouyou says stuff like that.

“All right,” Hinata relents, and Kageyama wants to whine, to backpedal, to retract what he’s just said, until Hinata says, “I won’t say anything. Keep talking to me.”

Kageyama’s voice sounds somewhat strained as he replies, “What do you want me to talk about now?” He’s not sure he can concentrate to talk; his hands are itching to wander now and he doesn’t know how long he can resist the urge; his self-control always, _always_ seems to crumple rather quickly any time Hinata is concerned.

“Tell me… what you want.”

“You,” is his immediate response, and it comes out all shaky. He hears the gasp at that, feels his dick twitch and leak at the sound, and feels the need to elaborate (because doesn’t Hinata want him to talk?): “Against me. Moving. Needing to… feel me, like I need to feel you.”

“ _Tobio_.”

“Are you--?”

“Y-yeah. Keep talking.”

Kageyama _does_. He tells Hinata what he wants. What he needs. He’s never been so verbal when they’ve done this before, and it’s somewhat embarrassing but it doesn’t even fucking _matter_ because Hinata’s moaning and listening and touching himself and Kageyama can imagine it—can imagine Hinata’s hips rocking up into his own touch, just like he can imagine that the hand touching _him_ is Hinata’s.

Eventually, the words fall away, dissolving into senseless groans and panting breaths, faster and _closer_ , and then—

Both of them are relatively quiet in the aftermath. 

“Think you can sleep now?” Tobio eventually asks as he snatches a few tissues from his nightstand and manages a half-assed, hasty clean-up. 

“Mmhmm.” Hinata yawns loudly, obnoxiously, and Kageyama snorts.

“Pervert,” he then says, even though he doesn’t mean it at all.

“You love it,” is Hinata’s response, and Kageyama can’t argue there. 

“I love _you_.” He’s beginning to suspect that he becomes stupidly sappy after sex.

(But if he’s being honest, he’s always been stupidly sappy, _always_ , about Hinata.)

There is an undeniably happy sigh that makes Tobio tingle everywhere. “I love you, too.”

He supposes it’s a pretty damn good way to begin the month.

~*~

The end of March and the end of the school year bring fear. Fear, disguised as rationality, and for whatever reason, it hits Kageyama _hard_ and it messes with his head and it fucks _everything_ up, makes him think entirely too much when he should simply be enjoying the company of his friends and teammates. They’re meant to be celebrating, after all.

“What’re we going to do without you?” the first years are asking, and they’re gazing pointedly, almost desperately, at Ennoshita, who just laughs and shakes his head.

“You’re going to be fine,” he declares reassuringly. “Although I didn’t think we would be, without Daichi.”

“We did fine without him yelling at us like an angry dad getting ready to ground us,” Nishinoya snickers, and Daichi picks a piece of pepperoni off of his pizza and chunks it right at him, where it gets stuck in his hair. 

Sugawara is grinning amusedly, at least until someone (Tanaka) makes a comment about him being the doting mother that always smoothed things over after Daichi had gotten upset and raised his voice. At that point, he’s throwing things, too, and everyone’s laughing, and Tobio should be focusing on the hilarity unfolding before him, but he can’t. He can’t, even when Yachi says that she thinks _he_ would make a good captain.

Kageyama glances at her confusedly, not quite knowing where this is coming from. “Huh?”

“Well, the first years would understand his caveman-speak, at least,” Tsukishima says with a snort and a smirk.

Kageyama realizes everyone’s waiting on his comeback. It doesn’t happen, and Tsukishima frowns a little. Everyone else goes quiet, watching Kageyama for a minute, obviously not understanding his uncharacteristic lack of a smart-ass response.

Hinata nudges him, brown eyes full of worry. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” _No_. His brain is feeding him all sorts of unpleasant scenarios and it’s hurting his heart and he doesn’t want to be here right now, even though he knows he _ought_ to want to. He wads up a napkin and throws it at Tsukishima in order to provide some sense of normalcy even though he’s not feeling it. Tsukishima isn’t buying it and Kageyama can tell, but no one says anything about it and everyone resumes talking and laughing.

Shouyou walks him home after their little party, and doesn’t ask him to talk. Shouyou does very little talking himself, but he touches Tobio’s arm every now and again, and kisses him deeply once they’ve reached his front door. 

“I’ll let you know when I get home,” he promises, and Kageyama nods, squeezing Hinata tightly before letting him go and stepping back.

It’s a little after eleven when Shouyou calls him. He answers on the first ring.

“Talk to me, Tobio.” The pleading tone hits him just as hard as the painful thoughts, and Kageyama release a shaky sigh.

“Everything’s going to change,” he explains. And that is and _isn’t_ the issue. “Our team’s gonna take a heavy blow.” Which is true, and this _is_ something that concerns him, something that makes him think. However.

“That happened this year too,” Hinata gently points out. “And we managed, didn’t we? We will this time, too. Plus, you and I will still be here. We’ll still show everyone how it’s done.” Such utter confidence. This isn’t _really_ about the team though, and Hinata knows it, says as much: “Now, what is this really about? You can tell me anything, you know. Anything, Tobio.”

Tobio doesn’t want to admit that these irrational fears (which seem perfectly rational, to Tobio’s tilted mind) are plaguing him. He doesn’t want to, and yet he knows that Shouyou needs to hear it. “What if we don’t go to the same university, after all of this?” he blurts, and that’s part of it. Getting closer.

“We’ll still meet at the top,” is Hinata’s unfaltering response. “I’ll kick your ass in volleyball and kiss you later, so you know there’s no hard feelings.”

“But what if we don’t get to see each other often?” Kageyama presses, and he’s beginning to sound a different kind of desperate. “What if you meet someone _better_ , or what if there’s too much distance? Do you know how likely it is that a couple who got together in high school will stay together? Because--”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Shouyou interjects, and his voice is calm, low, firm. “Do you think I give one flying fuck about statistics?”

“You’re going to get tired of me,” Kageyama whispers, voice cracking, and there it is, the fear that has hit him full-force and has fed him with all sorts of what-ifs that have twisted all of his thoughts. He’s terrified of this possibility, which feels so very real.

“ _Kageyama_.” Hinata’s tone is bordering on anger now, and Kageyama supposes he deserves it. The tone alone shuts him up, and he listens. He listens because Hinata doesn’t give him a chance to do anything else. He listens because Hinata’s words make his own voice stick in his throat. “Do you know what people thought about us last year? They thought that I wouldn’t play worth anything because of my height. Because I’m the shrimpy one. They thought you would always be the egotistical King of the Court. Look at us now. You think that I’m going to base our relationship off of statistics? You think I’m going to stop loving you or stop wanting you to toss to me if we aren’t in the same university? You think I’m going to find someone _better_ when, for me, better doesn’t exist?!”

Kageyama opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He’s embarrassed and emotional and there’s a lump in his throat and he’s an _idiot_.

Shouyou isn’t finished. “You have every right to get scared, you know. Change is scary. We’re gonna be in our last year of high school. We don’t really _know_ what to expect months or years from now. You have every right to be afraid of the future, but you do _not_ get to put words into my mouth or say I’m going to feel some stupid way years from now when, years from now, all I can see is us, _together_. You’re my _best friend_ , Tobio, and all I want to do is make you happy and hit your tosses for a really, really long time. Time or distance won’t change it. We’d go to the ends of the earth for each other and you _know_ it, so what in the hell would a three-hour-long train ride be to us? To _this_?” 

Kageyama really, _really_ feels like a colossal idiot. A colossal idiot, who is madly in love with his boyfriend, and who is presently wiping at the tears that are running, unbidden, down his face. He takes a breath, and then another. “I’m sorry.”

“You had _better_ be.” Hinata’s voice is lighter now, less upset-sounding. “I don’t know where all of this is coming from, but… when you forget what you mean to me, even if it’s only for a second, I’m always going to remind you, okay, Weepy-yama?”

“Okay,” Tobio agrees, and sniffles a little, swiping at his eyes again. “I’ll remind you, too,” he promises.

“Dummy,” Hinata huffs, “I’m not as forgetful as you are, obviously.” His voice wavers just the tiniest bit.

Kageyama buries his face in his pillow for a moment, inhaling deeply. “My pillow smells like you,” he admits.

“Oh?” Shouyou queries. 

“Yeah,” Tobio replies. “It kinda stinks.”

“Hey!” Hinata bursts into laughter, and Kageyama follows suit. And just like that, everything feels _right_ again, easy as breathing.

Their last month as second years ends with Hinata’s laughter, high and sweet and _pure_ , echoing loud in his ears, in his heart, in his soul. 

He hates himself for being stupid, for having a weak moment, when he knew better. He _knows_ better. He knows—

_”As long as I’m here, you’re invincible!”_

Right here and right now, in this moment, he is, _they_ are, they _will be_.

For always, because Tobio’s decided. He’s playing for keeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only the epilogue left, everyone. Thank you so much for sticking with me this far. ^_______^ I hope you are all continuing to enjoy this!


	13. Epilogue:  Spring (April--Seven Years Later)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Life, for them, goes something like this now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sad to say that this story has reached its ending, but I hope you all enjoy this little glimpse into their future, set seven years from the last chapter. Also, the very end of this ties into the very beginning of the first chapter (kudos to you if you catch on! ^_~)

Life, for them, goes something like this now:

It’s a cozy apartment that’s plenty big enough for the two of them. It’s getting up to watch the sunrise together. It’s going to work early, coaching a bunch of rag-tag upstarts that think they know better than their coaches do (they are all too happy to prove them wrong). It’s playing volleyball together (Hinata’s eyes still shine when he spikes Kageyama’s tosses, and thank _god_ some things never, ever change); it’s watching the sunset. It’s getting home late and showering and making dinner together. It’s falling into bed and falling into each other. 

It’s sex before breakfast, and sometimes after, too, depending on how needy they are. It’s visiting their parents whenever they can and not having to hide anything. It’s starlit nights and quiet evenings spent on the couch doing nothing more than holding each other and watching television. 

It’s getting together with the ‘old gang’ at least once a month, catching up like they used to do when they were still in high school. It’s laughter and sometimes it’s tears and it’s falling apart and picking the pieces back up, together. It’s matching bands on their ring fingers. It’s having and holding and _always_.

“Shouyou,” Kageyama murmurs, gently running his fingers through messy hair. “C’mon; we need to get up and go to bed. You’re falling asleep on me.”

They’re on the couch, Hinata’s head on his chest, and it’s comfortable, but Tobio knows his back will be screaming in protest if they try to sleep here. 

Hinata stirs, though not much. “Am not,” he mutters, nuzzling at Kageyama’s chest.

“Do I have to carry you?”

Shouyou’s complete lack of a response is an answer in and of itself, so Kageyama carries him to bed and they curl up together, properly, in such a way that neither one of them will have an aching back in the morning. 

It’s falling asleep together. It’s holding on, and not letting go.

It’s love, it’s love, it’s _love_.

Kageyama isn’t perfect, and he has absolutely no desire to be. He’s gotten plenty wrong along the way, but every single thing that he’s done, wrong or right, has lead him to this moment right here, and the other thousands of little moments he’s had with Hinata. 

It’s all lead him here, and he wouldn’t change it, not for the world.

After all, _this_ is, without a doubt, the most amazingly wonderful thing that he’s ever gotten _right_.

~END~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always welcome. I won't stop writing KageHina, guys, don't worry. ;) 
> 
> I hope you all have enjoyed the read. Thank you for your kind words and your support along the way! <3


End file.
